The expanded specialist training program, offered by the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, provides resident doctors with the opportunity to work in health care sites beyond the traditional teaching hospital facility. The intention of the program is to encourage new doctors to encompass the broader cultural and socioeconomic conditions in which a great deal of health care takes place.
Expanded specialist training now takes place in medical settings that include private hospitals, community facilities and private visits to rural areas. Training is also available to increase doctor's awareness of aboriginal health. Training rotations take place throughout a period of not less than six months in each setting.
The program not only exposes doctors to less common health care settings, but also in turn, provides health care to areas under-represented in the medical care system. The Australian government also offsets the cost involved in training in new areas through a variety of grants available to providing facilities to fund each trainee's salary.