Ben Amberg is just the type of future doctor the Federal Government hopes to attract to the bush with its $95 million budget boost for country-based medical training.

The Melbourne-based 24-year-old never wanted a rural career until he spent two years of his medical degree in Gippsland in south-east Victoria.

He was initially "pretty shattered" when Monash University sent him to the country for his third-year training, but soon found working in regional health "a revelation".

"I was just opened up to this big new world of medical practice and … all the opportunities you can get in the country," he said, including winning a footy grand final with the local team.

"I fell in love with the place … there was a whole community out there that took you under their wing."

What's in the budget for rural health? $95m for regional medical school network

$95m for regional medical school network $83m over five years for Stronger Rural Health Strategy

$83m over five years for Stronger Rural Health Strategy $84m extra for Royal Flying Doctor's dental and mental health services

$84m extra for Royal Flying Doctor's dental and mental health services 100 extra training places for rural generalists from 2021



He would have considered staying in Gippsland to do his obstetrics and gynaecology training, but it wasn't really an option.

The Federal Government is working to change that as part of a 10-year program to add thousands of extra doctors and nurses in the regions.

It has earmarked nearly $100 million to help universities establish medical school networks in the Murray-Darling region, which would allow students to complete their entire graduate and specialist training in the country.

This would greatly increase the number of medical graduates who stay and work in regional areas, the Vice-Chancellor of La Trobe University, Professor John Dewar, told the ABC.

La Trobe University, in conjunction with the University of Melbourne, is establishing one of the medical school networks in Bendigo and Shepparton. It will specifically cater for students who already live in regional Australia and want to study and work there.

Other universities involved are Monash at Bendigo and Mildura, Charles Sturt and Western Sydney at Orange, New South Wales at Wagga Wagga, and Sydney at Dubbo.

"The evidence is that the retention of graduates from programs like this increase to about 70 per cent or above, whereas the proportion of graduates coming out of the metropolitan-based schools — even those who've come from regional areas — is far lower. Somewhere around 10 per cent," he said.

"What the Federal Government is at last now doing is addressing that maldistribution [of doctors] by saying we are going to train more doctors in regional areas because we know that's the solution," he said.

The health budget 'rural Australia has been waiting for'

Research by Monash University shows that if a medical student spends two-three years training in regional hospitals and general practice they are four times more likely to choose a rural career.

Students who spend just one year in the country almost doubled their chances of working in the regions once qualified, research author Belinda O'Sullivan from the Monash School of Rural Health Bendigo told the ABC.

Ben Amberg (number 14 on right) still makes a four-hour round-trip every weekend to play football. ( Supplied: Ben Amberg )

The research was published last month in the international journal Medical Education and was based on the experience of 2,500 medical students who studied at Monash University from 2004 and who were working in 2017.

"The evidence suggests that getting students to do longer placements where they gain experience in both regional hospitals and rural general practice has the strongest outcome in terms of graduates going on to work in rural and regional Australia," Dr O'Sullivan said.

The budget has also been welcomed by the peak advocacy body for rural doctors in Australia.

"This is the health budget that rural Australia has been waiting for," said Adam Coltzau, the president of the Rural Doctors Association of Australia.

"The budget includes a range of supports for medical students, junior doctors, registrars and senior doctors, which will deliver the right doctors with the right skills to meet community needs into the future."

As for Ben Amberg, he's hooked on rural life.

Now in his second year of specialist training in Melbourne, he still drives the four-hour round-trip to Traralgon every weekend to play footy.

"I'd love to definitely practice in the country at some stage in the future," he said.