Harnessing a University to address rural health workforce shortages in Australia

Objective: To describe the efforts of health faculties at the University of Sydney to contribute to the recruitment and retention of rural health professionals and examine for opportunities that would benefit from an institutional-led response. Design: Cross-sectional survey. Setting: The University of Sydney as a leading institution for health science education in New South Wales, which produces approximately 40% of all health science graduates in the state each year. Participants: Staff responsible for course coordination within the faculties of Dentistry, Medicine, Nursing and Midwifery, and Pharmacy; and eight disciplines of the Faculty of Health Sciences. Results: Of the two educational strategies associated with future rural employment, more progress has been made with rural placements, which were offered by all but one of the health courses. Efforts aimed at the other key strategy of attracting and supporting rural origin students were not well developed. Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy and only one Faculty of Health Sciences programs had more than 0.2 full-time equivalent staff to support rural initiatives. Conclusion: Despite the significant government investment in rural health education, the University of Sydney experience demonstrates that this does not necessarily translate into adequate internal resources available for every course or program to optimise performance for rural health workforce outcomes. In an environment of competing priorities, benefits are likely to accrue from strategies that draw on the existing resource base and operate through greater collaborative action, coordinated at the institutional level.