Bonded Support Programs

The Bonded Support Program (BSP) is a support network for participants involved in the Bonded Medical Places (BMP) Scheme and the Medical Rural Bonded (MRB) Scholarship Scheme.  Both Schemes are funded by the Federal Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) and managed by the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM).

Participants are provided with extra educational support through conference support, networking events and regular newsletters and various online support services.

Whilst the conferences are aimed at final year students and junior doctors to assist with their specialty selection, the University Networking Events are aimed at the BSP student body.  These events will provide participants with the opportunity to meet other BSP participants and representatives from Rural Health Clubs.  There will also be guest speakers and opportunities to gather information to help participants with their training decisions.

Further support is found through ACRRM’s online educational and networking platform, Rural and Remote Medicine Education Online (RRMEO).   RRMEO is an online tutorial forum unique to ACRRM.  These sessions can be an e-Mentoring or Elluminate session.

An e-Mentoring session involves approximately 20 participants and an e-Mentor.  A decided topic will be posted by the e-Mentor and left open for a period of 2 weeks.  Participants will then be able to post questions to the e-Mentor and discuss the topic in depth with the other participants in a closed forum.  

Elluminate sessions are online live tutorials also set on a decided topic.  The e-Mentor will host a session based on the topic, participants are able to interact with the e-Mentor and other participants in this unique online classroom atmosphere.

Participants also receive regular newsletters and monthly segments called Spotlight on Community, highlighting the everyday challenges faced by doctors and the unique advantages to working in a rural and remote area, as well as profiles of towns in rural Australia.

As always the BSP team will be on hand to assist with any queries, however any questions relating specifically to Departmental contracts should be directed to the relevant scheme using the following contact details:

MRB

Freecall:              1800 248 720

Switch:                02 6289 1555

Fax:                      02 6289 8600 (mark: attention MRB Scheme)

Email:                  MRBscholarshipshealth [dot] gov [dot] au

BMP

Freecall:              1800 987 104

Switch:                02 6289 1555

Fax:                      02 6289 8600 (mark: attention BMP Scheme)

Email:                  BMPSchemehealth [dot] gov [dot] au