General Practice Career Losing its Appeal - AMA Poll
An AMA poll of GPs, commissioned for AMA Family Doctor Week, shows that general practice is losing its appeal as a career path.
Market research firm, TNS, polled 403 GPs during July. The GPs were AMA members and non-members and were representative of city (inner and outer-urban) and country (rural and remote) practices in all States and Territories.
AMA President, Dr Bill Glasson, said today that a combination of long hours, high practice costs, high medical indemnity premiums and threats of litigation, and bureaucratic red tape is causing disillusionment and low morale among the ranks of Australia's GPs.
"More than 30 per cent of the GPs polled say they have to spend more than ten hours a week completing paperwork. Some doctors are tied up with red tape for as many as 25 hours a week.
"That's more than a day lost in face-to-face consultation time with patients.
"Thirty-two per cent of GPs polled are working more than 60 hours a week - with 13 per cent working more than 65 hours and up to as many as 98 hours a week.
"That is not a healthy lifestyle for any worker, let alone a doctor with patients in their care.
"Just 61 per cent of the doctors said they would study medicine if they had their time over again, with only 55 per cent saying they would choose general practice as a career.
"Fifteen per cent said they would be out of the profession within four years.
"The polls show that all the GPs, whether inner-urban, outer-urban, rural or remote, will continue to practice where they are. There is no evidence that existing incentives would encourage city doctors to country areas of need," Dr Glasson said.
Dr Glasson said that the poll shows that GPs have concerns that go well beyond remuneration.
"Like other Australians, GPs want a better balance in their lives," Dr Glasson said.
"They want time for family, leisure, hobbies, holidays, rest and relaxation.
"What they don't want is Government intervention and bureaucracy and being told where and when they should practice medicine.
"The worrying conclusion of this poll is that unless things change Australia is facing a medical workforce shortage that will take years to turn around.
"Students will not just avoid general practice and rural medicine, they will turn away from medicine altogether," Dr Glasson said.
Other findings of the poll include:
· almost 70 per cent of doctors polled are opposed to fund holding
· 22 per cent of doctors polled use the internet for patient billing purposes
· long hours/workload (25 per cent), children's education (21 per cent), and isolation (16 per cent) are the biggest disincentives to working in country practice
· 75 per cent of doctors polled would not encourage their children to study medicine.
This week is AMA Family Doctor Week. The AMA is putting the focus on the disappearance of an important Australian tradition - the local family doctor.
CONTACT: John Flannery, 02 6270 5477, 0419 494 761
Judith Tokley, 02 6270 5472, 0408 824 306