Royal Australian College of General Practitioners discusses rural GP shortage in Tasmania

RACGP state chairman Tim Jackson said the rural general practitioner shortage was at crisis point in Tasmania.

"The GP shortage in rural Tasmania is dire and it's impacting on the health of patients and communities," he said.

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"Everyone deserves access to high quality general practice care, regardless of their postcode.

"Without this, patients end up in hospital with much worse chronic conditions and health issues that could have been managed in general practice.

"The need is only more acute in Tasmania where we have an aging population."

RACGP rural chairman Michael Clements said there were misconceptions about general practice and rural practice as a career and its benefits.

"It is an exciting and varied career - we will be doing a lot more to promote this to medical students," he said.

The RACGP in a statement said there were more than 50 general practitioner vacancies advertised on the Rural Health Tasmanian Workforce website and even more locum positions.

"While there are many factors behind this, research shows GPs who get a taste of rural life by training there are more likely to choose to stay living there and enjoy all the benefits of a career in rural practice," it said.

The college in April released its blueprint for general practice training, titled Profession-led, Community-based Training, with the aim to attract more graduates to become a GP and do their training in the communities that needed them most.

The paper followed the return of general practice training to the RACGP, announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt in 2017.

The college said its training model had an aim to strengthen the promotion of general practice and rural generalist careers early to emerging medical students and junior doctors.

Applications for its 2022 training program open on August 30.

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