Medical student Yong Deng advocates for healthcare workers in rural towns

A Wangaratta medicine student is passionate about encouraging students to study in regional towns across Victoria. Read his story.

Medicine student Yong Deng wants to see more new medical professionals moving regionally.

A Melbourne University student is leading a campaign to address the shortage of healthcare professionals in regional towns across Victoria, with the backing of fellow medical students.

Yong Deng, who has been studying medicine for just over a year, is using his YouTube channel to raise awareness of the issue and inspire young people to pursue a career in healthcare.

Born in South Sudan, Mr Deng spent 16 years of his life in a Kenyan refugee camp before migrating to Australia in 2009.

His passion for healthcare was borne out of his own experiences and the loss of his sister to whooping cough when she was just six months old.

“I grew up as a young person with a lot of medical conditions and a lot of illness that could have been managed,” he said.

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“My passion for healthcare, not just medicine, was driven by the lack of access.”

Mr Deng pursued his interest in pharmacy after high school, studying at La Trobe University in Bendigo and later working as a pharmacist at Monash Health for more than five years.

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He is now in his second year of medicine at Wangaratta Hospital, having studied in Shepparton previously.

“The further you go from metro, the harder it is for you to have adequate healthcare,” he said.

“Your postcode is a determinant of your health outcome.”

Mr Deng believes working and studying in regional towns provides invaluable hands-on experience that is hard to find in metropolitan areas.

He encourages everyone to advocate for increased investment in infrastructure and facilities in regional areas to attract more healthcare professionals.

“Have you [the government] set up infrastructures that will encourage people to work in rural areas?” he said.

“We all need to advocate.”

With only 14 students in the Melbourne University cohort in Wangaratta, Mr Deng enjoys the personal nature of the learning environment.

He hopes his campaign will inspire others to consider a career in healthcare and help to address the shortage of medical professionals in regional towns across the state.

“(I want to ) share my experience and hopefully inspire and motivate young people to consider a career in health,” he said.

“We need to make sure that people in rural locations have access to the same quality of healthcare as those in the city.”