Doctors in the reformed Bonded Medical Program have been told that health officials botched their paperwork and rural work completed for their contracts may be technically invalid.

It comes after laws were passed in 2019 designed to make the placements more flexible for participants who signed contracts agreeing to work rurally in return for subsidised medical school fees.

At the time, there were roughly 10,000 doctors in two schemes run by the department, known as the Bonded Medical Places (BMP) and Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship (MRBS) programs.

They were given the option of switching to the new arrangements, which allowed participants to complete their three-year return-of-service obligations in 12-week blocks rather than in a single long stint.