FOREIGN medical students could soon buy training places in Queensland Health, potentially shutting out local students, secret Government documents reveal.
A Queensland Health medical advisory panel will look at developing a policy with Queensland medical schools to sell internships overseas – possibly for up to $200,000.
But the panel has also expressed concern about international medical graduates being able to "buy a place and subsequent issues of them being placed over Australian students" and "patient safety".
The move has angered the State Opposition, which claimed it contradicted Bligh Government measures to ensure more Queensland doctors were trained in Queensland to reduce the reliance on foreign-trained doctors.
Opposition Leader John-Paul Langbroek said the "cash-strapped" Government was looking at more ways to "raise revenue to pay for spiralling debt".
"If the Government is faced with having to pay a $60,000 salary for a Queensland intern or actually getting paid $200,000 to take on a foreign intern, does anyone really think Bligh and Labor aren't going to maximise the number of international fee-paying spots at the expense of Queenslanders?" Mr Langbroek said.
In documents obtained by the LNP under Right to Information, it was revealed that 16 members of the high-powered medical advisory panel met last July to consider the controversial option.
The panel noted: "Concerns have been raised over the equity of allowing international medical graduates to buy a place and subsequent issues of them being placed over Australian students.
"(There are) concerns around taking money from students for internship and if this contracts Queensland Health to get the students 'registrable'."
The panel suggested it would be good for the health system if overseas-born, Australian-trained medicos stayed in the country.
Mr Langbroek said a "debt-ridden" NSW Labor Government introduced a similar scheme last year where it allowed international students to buy a spot for $200,000.
"But the scheme blew up in the government's face when it chased so much cash from overseas applicants that in the end there wasn't enough staff to actually train them," he said.
He accused Ms Bligh of keeping the plan secret.
"Queensland medicine graduates will start losing their internship places in hospitals because dumbed-down full fee paying foreign students will get the places.
"As Queensland Health becomes reliant on the income from the 'cash for job' positions, this will jeopardise the quality of young doctors in Queensland," he said.
Health Minister Paul Lucas said the Government was not considering a scheme to make overseas students who graduated as doctors from Queensland universities to pay for their internships.
He said the Government would increase the number of internships from 515 in 2009 – 75 of these for international students – to 643 (90 international) this year and 727 (120 international) by 2014.
"Our first priority is and always has been to provide internships for Australian graduates from our medical schools," he said yesterday.
Source:
SundayMail 
