Regional Medicine Placement Fund

Across Australia, students are experiencing what is now known as placement poverty - the financial strain of completing compulsory placements while also covering rent, food, transport and everyday living costs.

For medical students, who do not currently receive government support for placements, this pressure can be significant. When compulsory placements are undertaken in regional or rural locations, costs such as travel, accommodation, fuel, temporary relocation and time away from paid work can add further stress at the very time students should be focused on learning, caring for patients and developing as future doctors.

UNE has identified this as a growing area of need and is actively building a fund to support medical students undertaking regional placements. But the need is greater than the support currently available.

Your gift can help ease the financial burden of placement poverty, allowing students to focus on their training and build meaningful connections with the communities they may one day serve.

For many students, a regional placement can be life-changing. It can be the moment they begin to imagine themselves practising beyond the city - perhaps one day becoming the local GP, the familiar face in the clinic, and the doctor who knows their patients, their families and their community.

Your support can help with:

• travel to and from placement locations
• accommodation during placement
• fuel and transport costs
• temporary relocation and living expenses
• essential placement-related costs

Your generosity can help ensure financial stress does not stand between a medical student and the regional placement that could shape their future as a doctor.