Expanding Australian psychiatry training settings beyond metropolitan public hospitals: background and issues

The aim of this paper is to provide an overview of the rationale behind the expansion of specialist psychiatry training positions outside of major public teaching hospitals, as expounded by the Australian Federal Government's Expanded Settings for Specialist Training (ESST) Program.

Alternative training settings are required to help address the anticipated growth in numbers of medical graduates and to meet the need of psychiatry trainees for greater experience in treating high prevalence mental disorders. To progress the expansion of training settings within psychiatry, it is essential that comprehensive consultation be undertaken to understand the implications of this program for trainees, existing training facilities and expanded setting providers to ensure that all stakeholders, including patients and carers, derive benefit.