Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub

Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub:  Improving Junior Doctor Training in the Region

The Goulburn Valley Regional Training Hub (GVRTH), managed by the Department of Rural Health (DRH), the University of Melbourne, is one of 26 Regional Training Hubs established Australia wide.  Regional Training Hubs were established through the Commonwealth as part of the Integrated Rural Training Pipeline for Medicine, with the aim of improving coordination of the stages of medical training to enable students wanting to practise regionally to complete as much of their training as possible within regional areas, identifying such students as early as possible, developing regional training capacity, strengthening connections with regional stakeholders, and identifying regional workforce needs.  The GVRTH was established in September 2017 and the team is based at the DRH in Shepparton.

In February 2018 the GVRTH hosted its first Junior Doctor Pathway Strategy and Education Forum.  Delegates included medical educators, medical students and key regional health service representatives.  The focus of the forum was to establish clear aims for the GVRTH based on identified needs in the region within the scope of the project.

Some of the identified aspirations of forum participants for the project included:

  • Increase in social support and community integration for junior doctors in the region
  • Provision of quality supervision and training for junior doctors in the region
  • Secured training pathways for PGY 1,2,3

During 2018 the GVRTH has committed to the following initiatives:

  • Provision of 1 & 2 day intensive clinical supervision training sessions for our major regional health care provider partners, Goulburn Valley Health, Northeast Health Wangaratta, and Echuca Regional Health
  • Establishment of a Regional Training Calendar
  • Working with our health care partners to create secure regional PGY2/3 rotations
  • Professional/Academic and Community Mentoring program for Junior Doctors in our GVRTH footprint and University of Melbourne Rural Clinical School students.

To find out more about what we are doing to improve junior doctor training in our region visit our website.