Principles To Guide Training And Professional Support For A Sustainable Rural Specialist Physician Workforce

Objective: To draw on research conducted in the Building a Rural Physician Workforce project, the first national study on rural specialist physicians, to define a set of principles applicable to guiding training and professional support action.Design: We used elements of the Delphi approach for systematic data collection and codesign, and applied a hybrid participatory action planning approach to achieve consensus on a set of principles.Results: Eight interconnected foundational principles built around rural regions and rural people were identified: FP1, grow your own "connected to" place; FP2, select trainees invested in rural practice; FP3, ground training in community need; FP4, rural immersion - not exposure; FP5, optimise and invest in general medicine; FP6, include service and academic learning components; FP7, join up the steps in rural training; and FP8, plan sustainable specialist roles.Conclusion: These eight principles can guide training and professional support to build a sustainable rural physician workforce. Application of the principles, and coordinated action by stakeholders and the responsible organisations, are needed at national, state and local levels to achieve a sustainable rural physician workforce.