AUSTRALIAN IMMIGRATION NEWS

Australian immigration: Doctors urgently needed in Victoria

Thursday, 21 February 2008

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is calling for urgent action to increase the number of GPs in regional Victoria, setting its hopes on doctors considering immigration.

Ever considered working and living in Australia? If you look at the latest figures, now could not be a better time for you to come to Victoria and set up your own practise. You'll not only have a lot of desperate patients standing in tow, but will also bring great relief to many overworked Australian doctors.

Shocking new figures show that the state has gained only one GP between 1996 and 2006. But Victoria's population has grown by more than 500,000 within that decade, meaning that it's in dire need for doctors.

It's clear that more doctors must be brought in, either via other regions in Australia or immigration, because many GPs are suffering burn-out as figures show a huge jump in patient-doctor ratios. They're suffering health problems and chronic stress, and some have been forced to close their books to new patients.

And it's no wonder why. Health chiefs claim that half a million new Victorians are sharing just one GP. Federal Government figures revealed the average number of patients per GP rose from 759 in 1996-07 to 841 in 2006-07. In rural areas the shortage is even worse, where there can be more than 1700 patients for every doctor.

"Many Victorians, in regional and metropolitan areas, simply cannot get an appointment," said AMA state Vice-president Harry Hemley, who fears that the situation will only get worse as many older doctors leave the workforce.

Health chiefs are urging the federal and state government to increase the amount of doctors in order to resolve the massive shortage of general practitioners, meaning that immigration could bring in the numbers needed.

Areas that are feeling the doctor pinch the most are Ballarat, Bendigo, East Gippsland, Wodonga, Mornington Peninsula, Knox and the Goulburn Valley, while the AMA has predicted that North-East Victoria will feel it quite badly over the next five to 10 years if something is not done.

"In the next five years, Victoria will face the largest shortage of doctors the state has ever seen," said Dr Hemley. "The State and Federal Governments should ensure we get new GPs trained as soon as possible.''

Even though there has been an increase in student doctors, it will be up to 10 years before they can actually start to practise.

"It'll take until about 2010, 2011 when the number of doctors graduating will double in Victoria, but still they've got to go through the training program and that takes another five years to be a GP," said Dr Hemley.

Currently, there are 130 vacancies for GPs in Victoria, and by 2012 an estimated 700 more doctors will be needed to keep up with demand in rural areas.

There is now an increasing reliance on foreign doctors. In fact, about 25% of Victoria's doctors were originally trained overseas. But more need to be brought in via immigration if we want to fix the problem right now.

Dr Philip Webster, Chairman of Rural Workforce Agency Victoria, said that new GPs were no longer willing to work 100-hour weeks as previous generations had often done. He warned that an influx of new medical students due in coming years would not avert the crisis, and improving pay was only part of the solution.

If you are a doctor and considering immigration or migration to Australia, you are in very high demand! Check if you qualify for a visa to work in the world's friendliest country, by completing our free online visa eligibility assessment.

Your sought-after expertise could be the perfect antidote to Australia's medical crisis.