More undergrads don’t solve shortages

 Vic Premier Daniel Andrews wants to pay HECS plus scholarships for 10 000 new nursing students (CMM August 29) – which is nice, but as learned readers remark, where are the extra placements to qualify going to come from?

It’s part of a wider problem. “Universities cannot produce more health graduates unless health services open up more clinical placements so people can complete their training,” Catriona Jackson from Universities Australia warns.

Nor is it a new one.  As Steven Schwartz’s review of nursing education warned, “finding placements for students has become an area of intense competition among higher education providers.”

Which has led to desperately innovative ideas. Australian Catholic U once contemplated sending students for placements in Vanuatu and Uganda (CMM April 28 2015).