From across Australia, rural palliative medicine specialists travelled to Canberra this March, where they were joined by colleagues from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
Working together over two days the group honed an exciting blueprint, to introduce a new 12 month Integrated Rural Term aligned with the new palliative medicine curriculum. Once approved, rurally intended palliative medicine trainees will be able to complete much of their training in rural services, rather than having to move to the city for three years.
‘The Rural and Remote Institute of Palliative Medicine (RRIPM) has been advocating for this development, and we are delighted to be working with the College in such a constructive and positive way’ commented Dr Christine Sanderson, RRIPM’s clinical lead.
Dr Sophia Lam, Chair of the RACP Training Committee, Palliative Medicine, said that ‘once committee requirements are complete it is conceivable that trainees could be recruited for the new rural terms as soon as February 2026’.
RRIPM is focused on achieving this timeline and if approvals go well, will be poised to offer advanced trainee candidates 12-month rural core rotations, confident in the knowledge that this has been thoroughly considered, jointly developed and approved through robust College processes.
This first wave is planned to include 4 trial sites that would receive provisional accreditation and be jointly evaluated to inform future waves.
Joe Hooper, ANZSPM CEO cautions that ‘the two-year FATES grant that has made this work possible is coming to an end, and while there has been tremendous progress, we need to be mindful of the need for ongoing funding if we hope to realise the full potential of this work’.
‘With a federal election looming, the time is right to talk with your local members and advocate for equitable rural funding, and rural training support’ he said.
Many services across rural Australia have expressed interest, and they are ready to deliver a quality training experience through an integrated rural term.
