Medical students are demanding that the Federal Government force medical colleges to prioritise graduates of Australian universities for registrar positions to fix the specialist training bottleneck.

The NSW Medical Students’ Council (NSWMSC), backed by student groups at seven medical schools, including in the ACT, says the UK’s new laws prioritising domestic graduates have slashed competition for training posts and meant that 98% of specialist training posts now go to priority candidates.

Now it wants similar laws here, arguing that taxpayers subsidise domestic students’ degrees with the expectation that these doctors will be able to qualify as Australian specialists.

The oversupply of junior doctors compared with specialist training positions has left students fearing for their careers in medicine, according to Josh Gaul, the NSWMSC vice-chair and a fourth-year University of Sydney medical student.