Sydney is a major tourist area but doctors are needed in rural areas

With 20% of its rural doctors approaching retirement, and young doctors preferring life in the city to life in the sticks, some country practices face extinction unless they can attract medics from abroad.

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So public health officials have launched a major new global marketing campaign to tempt doctors into starting a new life in the southern hemisphere.

It is a trend among Burmese doctors as it is getting more difficult to get a job in the UK   a Burmese doctor in Australia

Burmese doctors

Some Burmese doctors are already working in Australia.

"It is a trend among Burmese doctors as it is getting more difficult to get a job in the UK. My friends help me get here", says a Burmese doctor working in Australia.

Appreciation received

International doctors feel that they are being appreciated for their work in rural parts of Australia.

"In Sydney no-one told me they're grateful to see me. Here, almost every day I hear people say they're happy that I'm here and they hope I won't leave", says a Pakistan-born doctor who is working in a rural area.

New South Wales alone has a hundred and seventy five rural vacancies. In five year's time it could be over four hundred. Some country practices face extinction if the foreign legion of international doctors doesn't save the day.