Dentists too thinly spread in rural Australia
The Australian Dental Association issued a media release yesterday calling on the Federal Government to do more to address the maldistribution of the current dental workforce, which is negatively impacting on the delivery of services in areas of need such as in rural, regional and remote parts of Australia.
Key recommendations in the release are as follows:
Key recommendations in the release are as follows:
"The ADA calls on the Commonwealth Government to take the following steps to alleviate dental workforce shortages in regional, rural and remote parts of Australia:
• Fund an optional clinical placement year for graduating dentists (University and overseas trained dentists). This placement year, to be served mainly in the public dental sector (although some private rural placements should be considered in areas of special need) would increase access to dental care for public sector patients and significantly reduce waiting lists. The ADA believes in a clinical placement year but acknowledges this will require additional infrastructure and mentors.
• Create further scholarships for dental students from rural and remote parts of Australia to encourage graduates to practice in these areas.
• Extend the general practitioner and medical specialist relocation program to dentists. (This program offers financial grants for GPs and medical specialists to relocate to areas of medical doctor shortage.) Currently, “doctors can apply for grants of up to $30,000 to establish a new practice, or up to $20,000 to join an existing practice in an area of doctor shortage”.
• Create a moratorium or debt forgiveness on all dental graduates who in turn agree to provide their services in regional, rural and remote areas or in the public sector. The extent of the moratorium or debt forgiveness could reflect the period of time the dental graduate undertakes practice in these particular areas. The longer the period of guaranteed service in regional, rural or remote areas, the greater the moratorium or debt forgiveness.
• Provide accommodation assistance to enable under graduate students to attend rural clinics as is in place for medical students."
• Fund an optional clinical placement year for graduating dentists (University and overseas trained dentists). This placement year, to be served mainly in the public dental sector (although some private rural placements should be considered in areas of special need) would increase access to dental care for public sector patients and significantly reduce waiting lists. The ADA believes in a clinical placement year but acknowledges this will require additional infrastructure and mentors.
• Create further scholarships for dental students from rural and remote parts of Australia to encourage graduates to practice in these areas.
• Extend the general practitioner and medical specialist relocation program to dentists. (This program offers financial grants for GPs and medical specialists to relocate to areas of medical doctor shortage.) Currently, “doctors can apply for grants of up to $30,000 to establish a new practice, or up to $20,000 to join an existing practice in an area of doctor shortage”.
• Create a moratorium or debt forgiveness on all dental graduates who in turn agree to provide their services in regional, rural and remote areas or in the public sector. The extent of the moratorium or debt forgiveness could reflect the period of time the dental graduate undertakes practice in these particular areas. The longer the period of guaranteed service in regional, rural or remote areas, the greater the moratorium or debt forgiveness.
• Provide accommodation assistance to enable under graduate students to attend rural clinics as is in place for medical students."
posted by Garry Pearson at 9:26 am
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