I agree that technology, particularly at this stage, cannot replace doctors themselves. The ViTCCU program, for example, still requires clinicians to be present at both ends of the connection to assess and implement any suggestions for treatment. But the technology is facilitating increased access to specialist healthcare for patients who cannot or cannot afford to travel to those services. Funding for programs like these is definitely going to help, in the short term at least; even if it is only a stopgap measure until more doctors can be convinced to go or placed in areas of workforce shortage.

However, if forced placements are not ideal but we continue to rely on them, then the cycle of a shortage of permanent rural doctors will constantly be reiterated. What would you suggest as the seeds to a solution? What do you think of increasing university placements for medicine, and provide more scholarships for students willing to commit to regional work?