Mr Joyce and Assistant Health Minister David Gillespie were in town to spruik the benefits of the government’s $29m investment to train doctors in rural locations through the Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training (RHMT) program.

The University of Newcastle’s (UoN) Department of Rural Health (DRH) – which has a major training site in Tamworth – has reached almost 6000 placement weeks in less than 12 months.

Three years ago placements were peaking at 3000 weeks. DRH executive officer Jennifer Lang said the RHMT program was already making a huge impact.

“Last year we had a student on placement up here, a total urban boy, who did an 18-week placement at the Tamworth Aboriginal Medical Service,” Ms Lang said.

“He applied for the job and he’s working here now. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect he would be working in a rural area.”

UoN Peel Clinical School dean, Dr Lauren Cone, said the program was proving so popular, even when the university’s on-and-off-campus accommodation hit capacity, students were taking up rooms in town.

“They’re all shocked at how much better the experience is [compared to a metro hospital],” Dr Cone said.

Mr Gillespie said students in regional hospitals got “first class training”. “They’re in the front row, not the back row like they are in big city medical schools,” he said.

Mr Joyce said doctors trained in regional cities were more likely to stay rural.