Vegemite and chocolate sprinkles: Dutch medical students in rural Australia

The Primary Health Care (PHC) working group of the Department of General Practice of Maastricht University in the Netherlands was founded in 1998 specifically to introduce students to patient care, research and education in primary health care settings outside the Netherlands. Rural health care in Australia is appealing to international medical students because of its unique setting. In the past 5 years, 42 medical students from Maastricht University have pursued a medical elective in rural Australia, supervised by the PHC working group. Doctors and coordinators in primary care clinics across Australia have welcomed and supervised students from Maastricht and exposed them to the reality of rural health care. Future collaboration with other Australian primary care clinics is welcomed.