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AMA NSW Doctor Magazine: 'More Doctors for the Bush'
26th June 2025
'The NSW Doctor’ is the flagship publication of the Australian Medical Association (NSW) Limited and the latest edition is now available! While we encourage our readers to soak up the informative, inspiring and educational stories on every page, please make sure you turn to page 35 for a story about RDN!
RDN Communications Manager, Theo Clark, writes for the Autumn 2025 edition and explains that while Australia’s rural communities are crying out for more doctors, the opportunities have never been more appealing!
The following is an excerpt from an article published in the Autumn 2025 Edition of AMA NSW Doctor Magazine.
Contrary to popular global opinion, Australians are predominantly urban dwellers, with the vast majority of our 27 million inhabitants living in cities along the coast. Yet, when it comes to the economic lifeblood of the nation, the situation is reversed, with inland primary industries producing the lion's share of export income.
The health and wellbeing of remote, rural, and regional communities are, therefore, fundamental to Australia's prosperity and long-term future. However, despite Australia ranking highly in global terms for physicians per capita, the national distribution pattern for doctors reflects our general preference for urban existence.
In other words, the bush needs more doctors.
But that is not the end of the story. Just as in hi-tech modern farming, a farmer might have all the knowledge of soils and seasons to sow a field but can't succeed without the right technologies and workforce to plant, harvest and transport a crop - so a doctor's country practice relies on an interdependent web of clinical, financial, technological and social supports to provide successful health outcomes for the community.
Over 36 years, Rural Doctors Network (RDN) has championed the importance of access to health care for all and developed a holistic approach to supporting health professionals within such frameworks of collaboration. From 2021, with funding from the Australian Government, RDN coordinated trials of the Collaborative Care Program, which addresses challenges in accessing primary care services and the recruitment and retention of health practitioners.
This program runs across five regions in rural NSW and now receives funding from the NSW Ministry of Health. It continues to work with communities in need to develop tools and support to solve complex health challenges.
Read the full article on p. 35 here.
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