Local GP Dr Adrian Allen said the registrars are fully qualified doctors who have been out of university for a number of years and are in the end stage of their practical training.

“Doctors entering the training program are fully qualified medical professionals who have completed a medical degree in Australia or overseas, and have a minimum of two years Australian hospital experience,” he said.

“Our first registrar Charlie Lai will start in Walcha on August 4; he left university nine years ago and joins us after finishing his posting at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.”

The registrars will complete a minimum of six months practice in Walcha working five days a week at both the GP practice and hospital.

“They will do full duties including on call work and the treatment of both out patients and in patients at the MPS,” Dr Allen said.

“As a consequence we can now open our books and are taking on more patients at the Walcha practice.

“This is a permanent solution to our local doctor shortage and it also has the potential to increase the number of resident doctors in Walcha if after living and working here one of the registrars decides to stay following the completion of their training.”

Walcha Council is supporting the initiative by providing accommodation for the registrars.

Dr Allen confirmed that Dr Liz Leprince will continue to visit the Walcha practice every second Monday and Tuesday.

Thirty-one new doctors were recruited to undertake their general practice training in New England in 2014, representing the largest annual intake ever for the region.

GP Synergy, the provider of prevocational and vocational general practice training in New England, says intake numbers have more than tripled over the past six years from 10 in 2009 to 31 in 2014

GP Synergy chief executive officer John Oldfield said the number of Australian medical graduates joining the training program was increasing.

“Fifty-eight per cent of the 2014 cohort completed their medical degree at an Australian university,” Mr Oldfield said.

“This is the largest number of Australian trained doctors entering the New England training program we have ever seen.”

Over the next two to four years, the new recruits will undertake their training in a combination of hospital and community general practice settings.

There are currently 39 GP registrars training in towns across the New England region, making an immediate contribution to primary healthcare provision.

In addition to significantly increased application, retention rates are also improving with latest data showing 51 per cent of GP registrars have stayed in the region after completing training, Mr Oldfield said.