Rural Health West provides support services for Bonded Medical Program participants in order to prepare them for rural health work and facilitate placements in rural areas.

Bonded Medical Program participants can contact Rural Health West for advice and guidance, such as:

• information about the Program benefits and obligations to prospective students
• assisting with providing participants options and recruitment support for placement into rural roles that meet their return of service obligation
• providing information about professional development and support to enable participants to be part of a broader rural medical professional network
• providing participants with information about accessing rural medical experiences during undergraduate and early career years and access to grants
• mentoring opportunities
• networking opportunities for participants
• access to existing rural doctors support communication networks; support through student networks, social media and newsletters
• assisting with accessing grants.

New arrangements for the Bonded Medical Program

The Bonded Medical Program aims to provide more Australian trained doctors where there are workforce shortages, particularly in rural and remote Australia.

There are two schemes under the Bonded Medical Program; the Medical Rural Bonded Scholarship (MRBS) scheme and the Bonded Medical Places (BMP) scheme.

A new Bonded Medical Program commenced on 1 January 2020, with existing participants able to opt in to the new arrangements.

Further information about the reforms can be found on the Australian Government Department of Health website.