About Us

The Far West Regional Training Hub is one of 26 regional training hubs in Australia with nine in NSW. The aim is to build a sustainable medical workforce in the far west through the following objectives:

Support Registrars to become Rural Generalists through robust collaboration with local health networks within the Far West offering supported training and education opportunities and maintaining optimal medical services within the Far West. 

  • Improving the coordination of the stages of medical training to enable students intending to practise rurally to complete as much of their medical training as possible within regional and rural areas. 

  • Identifying students with an interest in practising rurally and facilitate access to networked rural training opportunities at an early stage in their careers. 

  • Developing regional training capacity by supporting current supervisors of clinical training, assisting health services in obtaining accreditation for new training positions, and supporting local medical practitioners to become clinical supervisors. 

  • Strengthening existing, and develop new, connections with key stakeholders to improve the continuity of training for medical students/trainees within their region.

  • Medical students rotating out to the UDRH for their rural placement from numerous metro universities, and specifically three Universities (Adelaide, Wollongong, and Sydney) who send final year students for a whole year. These students are a key target for marketing as they are making key career choices like applying for internships (that is first year out in the workforce) Other groups to target include: 

  • High School students with an interest in medicine or just thinking about it, 

  • More junior medical students considering their rural placement, 

  • Junior medical staff who are not on a specific pathway but rotate out to Broken Hill

The BHUDRH coordinates and supports successful applicants while they work through their Rural generalist training. The University will provide administrative support and guidance ensuring all components of the program are met to ensure success. We will facilitate all training needs and allow time and quite space and support for study and skills training. 

 The Training HUB also facilitates medical placements from over 14 national and international universities.  Medical students are primarily placed at Broken Hill Health Service and provided with clinical supervision and support.  Placements range from two to 38 weeks duration.     

In addition to the long-stay students, BHUDRH offers short-term medical placements in a variety of clinical settings. There are opportunities to experience rural healthcare in the Emergency Department, General and Elderly Medicine, Surgery, O&G and Paediatrics. The BHUDRH also facilitates placements of up to four weeks in remote sites such as Menindee, Wilcannia, and Bourke.

Whether you are interested in an elective block during your Australian Medical degree, or have been successful in the John Flynn Scholarship program, and would like to enquire about availability, please contact our placement team.

Medical students from overseas will also be considered, subject to capacity restrictions.

We believe that even a short spell of training spent in a rural health setting will open your mind to the challenges of delivering high quality rural healthcare and highlight the advantages of a rural generalist career pathway.

We offer extended and short-term placements During the student’s time in Broken Hill, Students have approximately one day per week in the General Practice setting with a preceptor and the opportunity to parallel consult. This may also be available in the specialist clinics within the health service attend. 

Adelaide students will have ward placements in Women’s health, Children’s health and General and Geriatric Medicine. Sydney students have placements in Medicine and Surgery. Wollongong students spend the majority of their time in ED but also some weeks in general Medicine and Surgery units. 

Out of hours students are given the opportunity to experience and are required to make themselves available for some on-call duties each week to experience the different patient case-mix that presents in the evening and weekends or attend a retrieval or aeromedical transfer flight.