Country report: Australia

Introduction The last 10 years has been an interesting time for Australian medical education despite reduced funding. Workforce There are five main workforce trends: a rural/urban maldistributi on, a need for more specialists, public hospital staffing difficulties, inc reasing female practitioners and under-representation of indigenous practit ioners. Issues facing the Deans Lack of resources is a problem facing Deans, with p ressure for clinical service in teaching hospitals. Entrepreneurial activit ies have been undertaken including the enrolment of overseas students. Medi cal schools have also responded to important government initiatives. Developments in medical education Australia's 11 medical schools have under gone significant reform in the last decade. There is a mix of four (graduat e), five and six year courses. Australia's new medical school James Cook University opened the first medic al school in northern Australia in 2000. The School admits students from ru ral, northern Australian and indigenous backgrounds. It has a strong region al mission. Rural and community-based education Government funding to address the maldi stribution of the workforce has led to the establishment of rural clubs, De partments of Rural Health and community-based programs. The first two postgraduate years There have been recent moves to improve ed ucation in the two years following graduation. This includes the initiation of national projects in curriculum and assessment. Postgraduate and continuing medical education Postgraduate programs in Aust ralia are being reformed to build on the changes in undergraduate education . CME is also under review. Conclusion Australian medical educators should build on the recent reforms and take on some of the new directions in medical education.