Bendigo Health steps up in extra anaesthetist effort

A program established in 2021 to offer trainee anaesthetists a five-year training pathway and encourage future specialists to consider a long-term career in regional Victoria is beginning to bear fruit.

As part of the Victorian Regional Anaesthetic Training Network (VRATN) program, trainees spend three years in regional hospitals and one year in a metropolitan hospital.

They must then complete a fifth year as a Provisional Fellow at their chosen hospital.

There are currently 18 trainees gaining hands-on experience across eight regional health services, including Bendigo Health, which provides 24/7 anaesthetic and perioperative care for patients undergoing surgery and covers over 11,000 operative procedures every year.

Dr Shalley Robins is the first trainee to graduate and has opted to complete her Provisional Fellow year at Grampians Health.

She said the pathway has been a game changer for her as she was keen to train regionally.

“I really wanted to do my training in a rural setting, and the idea of living and training in Melbourne for a long period did not appeal to me,” she said.

“I thought my only regional training option would be to undertake GP training, but I wasn’t 100 per cent convinced that I wanted to specialise in that area.”

VRATN is backed with additional funding through the Victorian Medical Specialist Training program, which also assists with costs for regional trainees undertaking metro rotations.

The workforce imbalance between city and country was illustrated by previous Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development health data, which showed that Australia has around 4.3 doctors per 1000 people in metro areas, but only about 2.7 per 1000 in rural and remote regions.