The students, all from different areas including Armidale and Sydney, are looking forward to gaining more experience in Tamworth.

Alice Stewart said she had heard that Tamworth was a great final-year choice.

“Tamworth [and its hospital] has a really good reputation for teaching, as well as the student involvement,” she said.

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Aidan Batten agreed.

“I've heard from a lot of past students that the doctors are really dedicated to teaching here in Tamworth,” he said.

“A lot of the people and students that come here tend to come back as interns as well.”

UON Clinical Dean of Peel Rural Clinical School, Lauren Cone, believes Tamworth’s facilities and offerings are a cut above the rest.

“We can offer them a really great experience,” Dr Cone said.

“Medically we've got the specialists that can teach them, we've got willing patients who are welcoming them to the community and they also get to live among a group of other health professionals.”

Dr Cone said choosing a rural area gave the students more experience than they would find in big cities.

“The more students that experience what it's like to work in a rural community and practice medicine in a rural hospital, the more likely it is that some of those students will find that's what they'd like to do with their careers,” she said.

None of them was sure what they wanted to do once they had finished, but all agreed travel was a priority.

Aidan said studying medicine has more avenues than simply helping people.

“You also have the opportunity to work wherever you want. You don’t have to work only in big cities, you can travel around and meet so many different types of people.”

Twenty fourth-year students and a rotation of third-year students will also join the fifth-years in Tamworth this year.

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