If you build it who will come? Widening access through a place-based Rural Training Stream to address local medical workforce shortages

Lara Fuller, J.F.W. Deakin, Laura Gray, Matthew McGrail · 2026 · BMC Medical Education

Summary. Deakin University's Rural Training Stream for medical education, expanded in 2024 to an end-to-end program allowing students to remain in rural communities, successfully increased enrollment from rural areas in Western Victoria from 5% to 28% of medical students. The program attracted mature-aged women and health professionals returning to study. This place-based approach addresses rural medical workforce shortages by embedding students in their communities during training.

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@article{fuller-2026-if-you-build-it-who,
  title   = {If you build it who will come? Widening access through a place-based Rural Training Stream to address local medical workforce shortages},
  author  = {Lara Fuller and J.F.W. Deakin and Laura Gray and Matthew McGrail},
  journal = {BMC Medical Education},
  year    = {2026},
  doi     = {10.1186/s12909-026-09047-4},
  url     = {https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09047-4}
}

TY  - JOUR
TI  - If you build it who will come? Widening access through a place-based Rural Training Stream to address local medical workforce shortages
AU  - Lara Fuller
AU  - J.F.W. Deakin
AU  - Laura Gray
AU  - Matthew McGrail
JO  - BMC Medical Education
PY  - 2026
DO  - 10.1186/s12909-026-09047-4
UR  - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-026-09047-4
ER  - 

Details

DOI

10.1186/s12909-026-09047-4

Countries

Australia

Regions

Oceania

Categories

rural-healthcare, education, regional-innovation-systems, general-innovation

Added

2026-04-29