Building and retaining a generalist medical workforce for remote northern communities

This open session will consider educational solutions to one of the North’s most stubborn problems: too few doctors willing or prepared to serve remote, rural, coastal and island communities. The session will comprise 7× 8-minute talks, each followed by a focused 3-minute Q&A, which will be selected from peer-reviewed abstracts that demonstrate concrete, scalable solutions.

Illustrative topics include:

- community-embedded undergraduate and postgraduate medical education models;
- bonded-scholarship or bursary schemes that align graduate obligations with local workforce gaps;
- digital mentorship, tele-supervision and learning networks that combat professional isolation;
- integrating indigenous and other local knowledges into curricula to enhance cultural relevance; and
- policy levers (licensing flexibilities, rotational career paths, housing incentives) that improve retention.

Speakers may present both published evidence and lived experience, which will enable representation from universities, community/political leaders, indigenous organisations and early-career clinicians. Emphasis will be placed on measurable outcomes (e.g. practice location after five years) and on lessons transferable across different national systems.