I believe we will always have a rural doctor shortage cause we persist with an outdated model of traditional workforce planning , recruitment & retention. The idea of the single country doctor moving to a town and working and dying there is from a bygone era.

There are options never before possible that may allow better retention of rural doctors. Planning and recruitment requires political change. Simply throwing money at this issue hasnt and wont work. Firstly the notion that one must live where you work must be seriously challenged

FIFO locum doctors have always existed to provide relief to rural doctors. The bug bear has been continuity of care as the achilles heel of this model as more than a stop gap measure. Consider though what is more sustainable? A couple of fulltime resident doctors 24/7

burning out in 3 yrs then leaving vs a larger group of docs, taking turns being local live in docs to same town ( perpetual FIFO model) ad able to sustain this for longer. Not all pt care requires a live in doc and many tasks can e done remotely and asychronously.

What is more valuable to a rural doc career and longevity? more $$ or more control? that is the key question that hasnt been addressed in so many iterations of govt and workforceplanning.