Medical students left out of expanded prac payments

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has announced at this week’s Labor conference that the Commonwealth Prac Payment will be expanded to an additional ten key front line health workers to help support cost of living relief for students.

Eligible students currently receive $338.60 per week during their clinical and professional placements to support with things like travel, accommodation and relocation costs.

From July 1, 2027, the payment will be expanded to cover specialities including clinical psychology, radiography, pharmacy and podiatry.

Medical students were notably absent from the list.

In a statement the Labor government said unpaid prac placements were a big part of healthcare degrees, singling out courses such as radiology that require more than a year of placement.

AMA (WA) President Dr Kyle Hoath said there should be no hierarchy of hardship when it comes to mandatory clinical placements.

“The failure to extend paid prac support to medical students beggars belief,” he said.

“This is a serious missed opportunity at the very time Australia should be doing everything it can to strengthen, not weaken, the future medical workforce pipeline.

“Medical students undertake lengthy, compulsory clinical placements. They face the same cost of living pressures, the same accommodation and travel costs, and the same pressure to reduce paid work while training. Yet they are still being asked to carry those costs personally, while students in other health disciplines are rightly being supported.”

He said the lack of financial support hit Aboriginal, rural and students from less privileged circumstances hardest.

Referencing the federal government’s own workforce modelling, Dr Hoath said the country was forecast to experience a significant shortfall in specialists and registrars over the coming decades, with specialist undersupply forecast to reach 6981 full-time equivalent specialists by 2033, then almost doubling again by 2048.

The same modelling predicts registrar undersupply of 2398 full-time equivalents by 2033, rising to 3885 by 2048.

Financial barriers that discourage students from entering, remaining in or completing medical training undermines Australia’s ability to build the workforce it needs, Dr Hoath said.

“These figures should be ringing alarm bells. Australia may have enough doctors overall on paper, but we do not have the right doctors in the right specialties, in the right places, or at the right stages of training.

“Relative to the significant public investment required to educate, recruit and retain doctors, extending paid prac support to medical students is a practical and sensible measure. It would help remove unnecessary barriers to workforce participation and send a clear message that the government values the doctors of tomorrow.”

Dr Hoath’s sentiment was echoed by the national AMA, which said the decision made no sense.

National President Dr Danielle McMullen said: “Medical students are required to undertake about 2000 hours of unpaid clinical placements. The costs associated with this unpaid placement are a significant barrier to participation among current and potential students from low socio-economic and rural backgrounds.    

“Evidence also tells us that medical students from rural and regional Australia are more likely to practice in a rural and regional area once qualified. Helping these students undertake their placements will mean more doctors in areas that struggle the most with access.”   

Rural Health West chief executive Catherine Elliot welcomed the expansion as a significant step to supporting healthcare workers, but said she hoped the scheme might also be extended to medical students.

“There can sometimes be a perception that medical students come from privileged backgrounds, but that does not reflect the reality for many students today,” she said.

“Many are completing medicine as a postgraduate degree. They may be living independently, supporting families and managing the same cost-of-living pressures as students in other disciplines.

"Medicine is an intensive course of study, with clinical placements a fundamental component of the degree.”

Prime Minister Albanese said the expansion of funding was an investment in the future healthcare workforce.

“This will help more Australians get the qualifications our nation needs," he said.

Health Minister Mark Butler added that the expansion would make a big difference for students doing placements in the bush.

“These are people who are going to look after us when we’re sick or old, helping women during childbirth, helping Australians living with disability.

“This expansion means that if you’re training to be a pharmacist, physio or psychologist, you’ll also now have a bit of extra help to get through.”