Parliamentary inquiry discussed for NSW’s rural vet shortage
Many rural communities have long struggled a shortage of veterinarians. It's been the subject of a parliamentary inquiry in New South Wales, which has touched on the challenges of recruitment and retention. In the Riverina two young women are bucking the trend, swapping city life to treat animals in the bush.
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00:00 Mobile veterinarian Michelle Noga spends a lot of time behind the wheel.
00:07 I can head up to Kendoba just four hours away and that'll mean a thousand kilometres.
00:12 Vets are in short supply, especially those with specialist skills like equine dentistry.
00:19 I actually met my now husband in my final year.
00:22 So he's a farmer in Griffith and it was a no-brainer just to move.
00:26 While the lifestyle appeals to her, so does the professional development.
00:31 In the country you get thrown in the deep end straight up.
00:34 You learn skills that you don't learn in the city.
00:36 Sophia Johnson is another city-born vet who's embraced country living.
00:41 I don't miss that traffic, I don't miss the cost of living.
00:45 But a NSW parliamentary inquiry has heard it's hard to attract vets to work in the country.
00:51 Many are chronically overworked.
00:54 The state's peak farm body believes training more country kids as vets could help.
00:59 Opportunities for students that grow up on farms to be able to get into the veterinary course
01:05 and having some sort of mechanism that gives them a weighting because of where they studied.
01:11 It's not just an issue of producing more vets but we need to make our rural and regional areas more enticing.
01:17 Other ideas aimed at easing the regional vet shortage have been put forward.
01:22 They include HECS relief for graduates who work in the country
01:26 and incentives to encourage more city students to gain experience in the regions.
01:31 Give it a go, you know, what's the worst that can happen?
01:34 You get that experience and you've got some stories to tell at the pub maybe.
01:38 Words of encouragement from someone who's made it work.
01:41 work.
01:41 [BLANK_AUDIO]