Mr Travis Pearson1, Ms Sarah Daniel1, Mr Eddie Gacitua2, Ms Liza-Jane McBride2
1Metro North Hospital & Health Service, Herston, Australia
2Office of the Chief Allied Health Officer, Queensland Health, Australia
Biography:
Travis Pearson has been practicing as a Nuclear Medicine Scientist for 30 years and is dedicated to improving patient access to their required health care needs. The focus of Travis’s work in recent years has been to advocate for and remedy the current workforce shortages, whilst also ensuring the Profession can evolve to meet the rapid advances in this field.
Travis thrives on complex challenges requiring sustainable innovative, collaborative and novel approaches to resolve.
Travis is completing his third term as a practitioner board member on the Medical Radiation Practice Board of Australia (MRPBA)
Abstract:
There is an identified critical workforce shortage in certain allied health professions across Australia with regional and rural areas most affected. Based on population demographic changes and current university student places, the demand for allied health professionals across Australia is expected to continue to significantly outstrip supply. This chasm in service availability is expected to most impact on smaller allied health professions and novel approaches to workforce development are required.
In March 2025, Queensland Health in collaboration with RMIT and 3 private radiation service providers launched a Nuclear Medicine Scientist Embedded Student Program. This program enables students to study remotely whilst also being able to undertake student placements two days per week at the 19 participating nuclear medicine services across Queensland. “Placement poverty” has been addressed through this program with students being supported through scholarships at public Queensland Health sites, and through paid employment with private providers for the duration of their studies.
This program has broad applicability especially for smaller allied health professions that are currently and expected to continue to face critical workforce challenges.
Keywords: Embedded Education, Placement Poverty, Critical Allied Health Workforce Shortage