Regional Training Hubs About

In 2017, 26 Regional Training Hubs were established across Australia, with 8 located in Queensland.  Of the 8 Queensland Regional Training Hubs, UQ administers three.  

Each of UQs Regional Training Hubs have a highly skilled team of academic, project and administrative staff who live and work within our geographical footprint. Teams have been established to help create coherent and connected rural career pathways for our junior doctors and bring a collective knowledge, understanding and expertise for what it means to live and work in a rural environment.  A dedicated UQ Regional Training Hub Research Team works to assist sustaining rural doctors through increased rural research opportunities and advancing the evidence base to improve the training pipeline into rural practice.  

We are committed to growing the number of regionally based pathways and accredited posts and improving the retention of medical graduates to remote, rural and regional areas.  

UQ’s Regional Training Hubs geographically align with 4 of Queensland’s 16 Hospital and Health Services (HHS): Central Queensland HHS, Wide Bay HHS, Darling Downs HHS and South West HHS and along with private hospitals, Queensland Rural Medical Service and Regional Training Organisations in Queensland, are our key partners in achieving our objectives.  

UQ’s Regional Training Hubs have established relationships and also work closely with a number of key stakeholders through our governance structure which includes membership on the UQ Regional Training Hub Board.  In recognition that the three regions are geographically different with different workforce and community needs, each Regional Training Hub operates a Local Advisory Group and an Indigenous Community Engagement Reference Group to oversee local strategies and solutions.    

UQ also demonstrates a strong commitment to working collaboratively with our Queensland based colleagues James Cook University and Queensland Rural Medical Service who each co-chair the Regional and Rural Medical Training State Form. The State Forum promotes and facilitates an effective state-wide network in Queensland with the aim of maximising efficiencies, reducing duplication of work and ensuring linkages with the State Department of Health’s Health Workforce Plan.  

We are dedicated to achieving the objectives of the Regional Training Hubs, as set by the Australian Government Department of Health, which are to:

• Improve the coordination of the stages of medical training to enable students intending to practise rurally to complete as much of their medical training as possible within regional and rural areas
• Identify medical students with an interest in practising rurally and facilitate access to networked rural training opportunities at an early stage in their careers
• Develop regional training capacity by supporting current supervisors of clinical training; assisting health services in obtaining accreditation for new training positions; and supporting local medical practitioners to become clinical supervisors
• Strengthen existing, and develop new, connections with key stakeholders to improve the continuity of training for medical students/trainees within our region
• Identify regional medical workforce needs and use this information to prioritise our activity

Supporting rural intent to become a reality…“We are here to help you map your rural career pathway”.

We are here to improve the coordination of the stages of medical training, so that medical students and medical trainees who want to practise rurally or regionally, can complete as much of their training as possible in rural and regional Queensland. 

Below is a snapshot of our current activity and initiatives.  For further session information or registration processes for upcoming events, refer to the See our events tab, or contact the individual Regional Training Hub project teams in Southern Queensland, Wide Bay, or Central Queensland.

We can assist medical students, junior doctors and registrars by:

• Identifying rural career pathways and providing support.
• Helping new graduates navigate the often complex postgraduate training system.
• Understanding local workforce and training options.
• Supporting you with access to mentoring programs tailored specifically to the individual.  Our programs address the needs of junior doctors who are new to rural practice, facilitate social support, and link them to the communities in which they reside.  
• Supporting current supervisors of clinical training and supporting local medical practitioners to become clinical supervisors.
• Delivering medical education and training events to enhance professional development, skills advancement and networking opportunities where required, allowing rural and regional doctors access to the same opportunities as their metropolitan counterparts.  We have developed and/or delivered the following initiatives:
  • Rural Context Training Program, a 6 session program currently being piloted with Integrated Rural Training Pipeline- Specialist Training Program (IRTP-STP) candidates and doctors doing Rural Junior Doctor Training Innovation Fund (RJDTIF) rotations.   
  • Promoted the Regional Training Hubs and our role at Intern Orientation Week and RMO Orientation. 
  • Regional Specialist Career Pathways Information events.
  • Educational Zoom Meetings – additional remote support is offered to reinforce connectivity as a reality for modern rural career choices via monthly 1-hour interactive webinar style meetings which aim to provide a vertically integrated learning environment and accelerated learning experiences in the rural and remote context.   
  • Cultural Mentorship Program for medical students.
  • Intern Information Sessions for 4^thyear medical students.
• Providing opportunities to experience and realise the true benefits of living and working regionally and rurally.   Examples include:
  • Welcome events for new medical students and doctors to the regions.
• Identifying rural research opportunities for medical students and trainees. Example includes:
  • Delivering “Bringing Research back to Emerald”.

Additionally, we are:

• Expanding existing Rural Clinical School high-school engagement programs regionally to inspire and promote rural medical careers:
  • Being a Doctor Program in Theodore, Gladstone and Emerald.
  • Aspire2 Program in Roma. 
• Promoting the role of UQ Regional Training Hubs via conference presentations and conference exhibits at relevant rural and research conferences.
• Providing access to advanced technologies, equipment and training spaces for superior medical education and training.

We are here to value-add to the work of our key partners, Hospital and Health Services.  We can assist by:

• Mapping and tracking position data across the training continuum.
• Analysing current and future generalist and specialist training capacity within the region, assisting with the identification of gaps and strategies to build training capacity.
• Mapping and promoting suggested training pathways which maximise time trainees spend regionally.
• Identifying strategies and actions to address local barriers to increasing accreditation and training capacity.
• Assisting in the accreditation process for new training posts.
• Identifying and assisting with relevant funding opportunities.

Are you a local junior doctor in CQ?

The UQ Regional Training Hubs have developed an information hub providing links to support services for CQ junior doctors during the pandemic.

View the CQ Portfolio of Local Services webpage to view the services available to you during this time including local delivery options, local counselling and community help freebies.

One Footprint…..many paths

To help medical students, new graduates and trainees to make career choices and navigate the often complex vocational training pathways for generalist and specialist training at an early stage of their careers, UQ Regional Training Hubs have produced Specialty Reference Guides.  We have worked closely with our key partners across both public and private health sectors to enable you to complete maximum accredited training time in a regional, rural or remote setting.  

The Specialty Reference Guides for Central Queensland, Wide Bay and Southern Queensland will assist you with navigating:

• Entry requirements/pre-requisites for different specialties.
• The application and selection process for different specialties.
• Individual training requirements of the Colleges who structure training curriculum and assess your training.
• The training pathway and stages that different facilities are accredited for across our entire UQ Regional Training Hub footprint.
• The available accredited training positions across our entire UQ Regional Training Hub footprint.
• Useful contacts and links related to different specialties.

We have designed example pathways and example networked pathways by geographic region to demonstrate where you can do the majority of your training, if not all, in regional, rural and/or remote Queensland. 

Are you looking to train in Central Queensland, Wide Bay or Southern Queensland?

View and download our Specialty Reference Guides below.

 Navigate your future in medicine – Every medical professional strives for a rewarding career but choosing the right specialty can feel overwhelming.     

 Explore your options to make an informed choice about your future. Visit Medi-Nav https://medinav.health.qld.gov.au/

Associate Professor Riitta Partanen
Head, Rural Clinical School
r.partanen@uq.edu.au 

Ms Debbie Croyden
Regional Training Hub Project Manager
d.croyden@uq.edu.au
+61 7 3365 5455

General enquiry - rural medicine
uqrcs.enquiries@uq.edu.au