Originally Published January 18 2022
COHUNA born and raised Oscar McGraw will be part of a ground-breaking new program to help solve Victoria's rural doctor shortage.
Inspired by his older sister, who also studied medicine, Mr McGraw set his sights on the health field after Year 10 work experience exposed him to allied health and nursing, and after a positive hospital experience when he broke his arm playing footy in Year 12.
Following his graduation from a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at La Trobe University, he has now been selected to embark on the University of Melbourne's Doctor of Medicine in Shepparton with 17 other bright minds.
Mc McGraw was among 15 students chosen from his graduating class to be part of the initial intake into the state's first end-to-end rural medical program, based on a partnership between La Trobe and the University of Melbourne established in 2019.
"A requirement of the program was that you lived rurally either for the last five years, or for a sum of at least nine years of your life," Mr McGraw said.
"While I wasn't too grateful to have the bush close by when I was younger, only recently I've wanted to go back.
"There are a lot of activities close on hand, family and friends – so there are a lot of positives."
Mr McGraw said his sister also inspired him to pursue a rural route where students and doctors got the opportunity to be more "hands on, do more and be more competent from an earlier time frame".
Until the young man completes specialty rotations, he is not sure what specialisation will be for him, but the rural generalist pathway was popular and involved the student training as both a general practitioner while also developing additional skills like obstetrics, anaesthetics or mental health services.
Minister for Regional Health David Gillespie, Federal Member for Nicholls Damian Drum, La Trobe University Vice-Chancellor Professor John Dewar and University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences dean Professor Jane Gunn visited Shepparton late last year to congratulate the students on their achievements.
"We know that these students are stand-outs amongst their peers – not just for their ability and hard work, but for their passion to contribute to the regional communities they grew up in," Professor Dewar said.
"As a university deeply embedded in regional communities, we are very proud of this program, and how these students will contribute to building the country's rural health workforce once they graduate."
Professor Gunn said this investment in rural training would ensure a more equitable medical workforce going forward.
"Coming from a rural setting, I am personally delighted to see more rural and regional students gain access to the University of Melbourne MD course," Professor Gunn said.
"This important collaboration between our two universities will provide great opportunities for students to realise their full potential."
