'Ominous': 20% drop in GP training applicants

Australian communities will miss out on vital healthcare if there is no urgent action to make general practice a desirable career choice for junior doctors, the AMA warns.

The current state of the GP training program — where places are now going unfilled — is an “incredibly ominous sign” for the future of general practice, president Dr Tony Bartone says.

His comments come after Australian Doctor revealed the number of eligible junior doctors applying to join the specialty has dropped from 2460 doctors four years ago to just 2015 in 2019.

“This year, we saw that first-year GP training places went unfilled, even though multiple recruitment rounds were initiated,” Dr Bartone says.

“This is despite Australia graduating around 3700 medical students each year.”

The AMA is calling for a range of fixes to boost