Graduates are required to spend a year as an intern, usually at an urban hospital, in order to be registered as a doctor. Medical education promoters say that many graduates may not get the internships they need to complete their qualifications despite the investment made by the Federal Government, which is $632 million, in the training package which was announced this week.

There are no native ophthalmologists and no Indigenous pediatricians available. The Government wills to double the number of GP training places from 600 to 1,200 by 2014, but Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand say that it will leave 500 medical graduates without a training place.

The Commonwealth and the state health ministers have assured that only the CSP Commonwealth-supported students will be guaranteed an intern training place which means that there could be many interims who might not graduate at all.

Professor Angus says that there is a need of guarantee for the other students such as, the Australian fee-paying medical students in the row and the overseas medical students in the medical schools have to be given an intern place.