House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-05-15 Daily Xml

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Answers to Questions

MEDICAL STUDENT UNIVERSITY PLACEMENTS

80 Dr McFETRIDGE (Morphett) (27 May 2010) (First Session). How many university placements for medical students in South Australian Universities have there been in each year since 2001, what is the current number of placements and how many of these placements for medical students were funded by the South Australian Government and Federal Government, respectively?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts): The University Placement numbers from 2002 to 2011 for the medical workforce (defined as Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery undergraduate program offered at Flinders University and The University of Adelaide) are:

SA University Placements 2002-11
Year Commencement 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011
Total 245 219 249 234 227 276 295 308 327 351


All non fee paying positions in universities are funded by the Commonwealth.

In 2007, the South Australian Bonded Medical Scholarship Scheme (SABMSS) was introduced, offering up to 10 places funded by State Government from 2007-09. The scheme was introduced as an initiative to increase the number of medical practitioners working in rural South Australia.

The scheme was extended for the 2010 intake and a review was completed regarding the future of the scheme.

The 2010 review determined that the scheme would cease from 2011 onwards to allow for:

Medical students to pursue other identified opportunities; and

Allow time for the intended outcomes of the scheme to be evaluated based on the 2007-10 graduates.

All current SABMSS recipients will continue to receive their scholarship and support program until the completion of their course.

South Australian Bonded Medical Scholarship Scheme placement numbers 2007-10:

Year 2007 2008 2009 2010
No. of SA Government funded placements 9 6 10 6