UNSW Wagga student Chanula Wanasinghe wants to fight the regional GP shortage

Chanula Wanasinghe just started his first semester as a UNSW Wagga campus medical student and already has his eyes likely set on following in his parents' footsteps as a regional doctor.

"I've lived in rural areas and really liked it, the community feel where everyone just wants to help each other," Mr Wanasinghe said.

Something as simple as waving to an oncoming car or saying good morning to a fellow walker.

"I think that encapsulates the difference - you don't see that stuff in the cities," Mr Wanasinghe said.

Australia is facing a GP shortage, with a Royal Australian College of General Practitioners 2021 report finding just 15 per cent of final year medical students choosing general practice as a first preference speciality.

The country will face a shortage of more than 10,600 GPs by 2031-32 according to a recent Australian Medical Association report.

The Sri Lankan-born 18-year-old understands the challenges and burnout that can come with rural work, including long hours and a lack of resources.

"I wouldn't say it scares me, I know it exists," Mr Wanasinghe said.

"It feels like you're really making a difference [in rural communities] - I think that's something you can use as fuel to keep going."

A 2020 study from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare found that around 20 per cent of Australia's rural population was unable to see a GP due to their distance from one.

Almost 60 per cent of rural respondents had no access to specialists in their region.

Just two weeks into a six-year degree, still adjusting to life in college housing and exploring local sights like Wagga Beach, Mr Wanasinghe is keeping his options open.

Whether he ends up as a GP or specialist in his hometown of Narrabri, a Riverina town or elsewhere, a sense of community only found in regional towns remains appealing.

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"I think that's something that you have to really experience to know," Mr Wanasinghe said.

"And getting students out into rural communities really helps with that.

"It's a definitely a good initiative having rural campuses so students can actually get that exposure."

Mr Wanasinghe's father Rohana is the only surgeon in Narrabri, a small town in the NSW north west slopes with just under 13,000 people but no medical specialists.

He also operates Bridge Medical Centre with wife Dilini, where a young Mr Wanasinghe spent childhood days helping and imagining himself doing the same highly sought-after work.

Dr Rohana Wanasinghe said he couldn't be more proud of his son.

"It was one of the best days of our life was when he got into medicine," Dr Wanasinghe said.

"We told him that it is not an easy job, long hours, a lot of responsibility."

Between working at the practice and the local hospital, Dr Wanasinghe takes on many medical students like his son in the hopes of positively exposing them to rural communities.

"I'm always struggling with getting new doctors coming into rural towns - it's a real concern and getting worse and worse," he said.

The more trainees and students are exposed to places like Wagga or Narrabri, the more likely they are to work there, the doctor said.

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