Murray Darling Medical School’s top role

Charles Sturt University and La Trobe University have appointed Dr Kim Webber as executive director of the Murray Darling Medical School, after the Universities announced a partnership to serve communities. Webber’s role is to support the Interim Board to advance the proposal and establish the Murray-Darling Medical School, and she will work with faculty across the two universities’ rural health campuses. She will travel extensively across the regions consulting with rural doctors, regional health networks and communities to identify opportunities to expand clinical and medical training capacity to support rural students enrolled in the program. Webber, an internationally-recognised policy expert in rural health workforce issues, was the Chief Executive Officer of Rural Health Workforce Australia. She also served as Australia’s representative on the World Health Organisation’s Expert Panel that developed international guidelines for the recruitment and retention of health professionals in remote and rural areas. The panel undertook an extensive research program to identify the strategies that are most effective in recruiting and retaining health professionals in rural, among others.