Graduate School of Medicine

We aim to engage, partner with and respond to workforce and health needs of our local, regional and rural communities.

We will listen to and build reciprocal relationships with Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

Our purpose is to improve health and wellbeing through best practice medical education and meaningful research.

Our purpose will be achieved through:

• Commitment to graduate excellent medical practitioners who have the capacity and desire to contribute to the enhancement of health care of persons in all geographic settings, but particularly in regional, rural and remote communities.
• Commitment to the health and population of regional and rural areas, including addressing health inequities.
• Building strong and enduring community partnerships using a strengths-based approach.
• Commitment to supporting Indigenous-led health and wellbeing research that responds to needs and priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
• Enhancement of physical and mental health and social wellbeing and to help communities to thrive.
• Contribution to research that has impact, helps reduce health inequities and helps populations and communities to flourish.

About one-third of Australia’s population lives in a rural or remote area, which creates challenges in terms of equity of access to health care. In addition to this, rural and remote populations face unique health and social issues such as Indigenous health needs and inequities, farm safety, social isolation and natural disasters. These issues are compounded by higher rates of chronic disease, substance abuse and suicide in these settings.

Graduate Medicine at UOW is committed to improving the health and wellbeing of people living in rural settings, and we continue to build our rural and remote outreach to improve the quality of care given to patients in country hospitals and rural practices by making a contribution to addressing the misdistribution of the medical workforce. We believe that an important part of improving rural and remote health is to ensure that the people affected most - communities, patients and their families - are included in the process.