Rural and remote areas of Australia are facing serious health workforce shortages. Multidisciplinary teams are one way of making the most of the rural workforce. In this paper, the advantages of multidisciplinary care in terms of patient outcomes, clinician satisfaction and system efficiency are considered with reference to an innovative rural multidisciplinary model that highlights how these positive outcomes can be achieved. Ways of developing the capacity of the future workforce for work in multidisciplinary teams are discussed.