There are suggestions La Trobe U has an alternative plan in place to the Murray Darling Medical School joint-proposal with Charles Sturt U. Word is that LT U would be happy with a pre-med programme, possibly offered in cooperation with an existing medical faculty and based at the Health Science school at La Trobe Bendigo. The city is already a Monash-led regional hub for graduate training in rural medicine.

But for the idea to assuage advocates of the MDMS the pre-med graduates would need an opportunity to go on to a medicine degree and a possibility of a pathway to the University of Melbourne is floated.

But not by UniMelb, which sunk the idea yesterday, telling CMM “it is not considering any proposal to provide a pathway to medical school for graduates of a particular university.” La Trobe U declined to comment.