30 May 2024

Croakey Health Media interviewed ASMIRT President, Carolyn Heyes on the topic of student placement poverty on the side lines of ASMIRT 2024.

Ms Heyes was supportive of the paid placement scheme but called on the Federal Government to include Medical Radiation Sciences (MRS) students in the program, saying placement poverty is very real within the MRS student population.

Ms Heyes related instances of students sleeping in their cars or tents to undertake placements, or dropping out of their degrees all together because the financial burden of a six month or 12-week placement was too much.

ASMIRT and ANZSNM have jointly written to the relevant Federal Ministers requesting immediate action. There is a critical workforce shortage of radiographers, radiation therapists and nuclear medicine technologists.

The Croakey article includes a discussion on workforce pressure and the apprenticeship model.