Griffith rural generalist Dr Elizabeth Dodd weighs in on mandatory placements

Dr Elizabeth Dodd says while the measure might bring more medical students to the bush, it won't make headway in retaining them for the long-term.

Her comments come following those made by another Riverina GP who said mandatory rural placements for medical students could be the solution to health worker shortages in the bush.

A recent study collated by six Australian universities found the majority of allied health graduates from the University of South Australia - 76 per cent - were from metropolitan areas and had done placements outside the city.

Twenty per cent came from rural and regional communities, with the implications being exposure to life and work outside major cities were key to attracting more workers to under-served hospitals.

"You can make it mandatory, but I don't believe you will get everyone. Eventually there will be an excuse to go to the city," Dr Dodd said.

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"There's a certain amount of evidence saying if you educate them rural, they will work rural. There's also evidence that if medical students have long stays in rural areas for long periods more will stay.

"But the big problem happens in training because it is city-centred in a large number of disciplines.

"The only disciplines that train rural and remote are rural generalists and general practice. If they don't have rural experience there are slim chances they will consider it."

Dr Dodd, who is a board member of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, has been practising in Griffith since the early 90s, having worked in Wollongong, Mount Isa, Broken Hill and Bundaberg prior.

She says the issue of attracting and retaining doctors is not as clear - cut as making it mandatory for them to train in the bush, and never has been.

"There's dozens of anomalies that need to be considered when addressing this issue. There's a whole raft of things that could work but at this stage we just don't know," she said.

"Money is definitely a factor but so is lifestyle. A mandatory scheme isn't going to make them stay if they don't feel a connection here."

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