The AMA will next month host a summit of key medical training stakeholders to discuss and develop solutions to the crisis around the shortage of prevocational and vocational training positions for medical school graduates.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that Australia faces the loss of hundreds of locally produced, highly trained medical graduates to other countries or other professions.

“New medical intern places must be created urgently, along with the extra training places required to ensure that all graduates can proceed to and complete specialist training,” Dr Pesce said.

“We know that NSW, Tasmania, Western Australia, and Queensland have been unable to offer intern places to all applicants, and there are reports today that the NSW shortage for next year could be as high as 86 places.

“The major casualties at this stage are international students who gained their medical education in Australia, but the shortage will claim Australian students as well over the next year or two if action is not taken now.

“It is clear that there are currently too few internship places nationally for the growing number of medical school graduates coming through the system, and this shortage will extend, over time, right through to higher level specialist training positions.

“This is causing a training bottleneck that will deprive Australian communities of much-needed fully trained doctors.

“It is a very disturbing picture of poor planning and waste of the extra medical school places the Federal Government has invested in over the past few years.

“The initial problem is the number of intern places in hospitals, not student places in universities.

“The AMA wants no further increase in student places until the intern place problems are sorted out, and there is a clear plan to boost training positions across the board for doctors in training.

“We can’t afford to make the problem worse.

“The AMA is hosting this summit to find practical solutions to the crisis.

“Ideally, the summit will reach a consensus position on the extent of the problem, the numbers and types of training places needed in the future, options on where and how these places might be created, and timelines for funding and implementation,” Dr Pesce said.

The AMA has invited representatives from medical schools, postgraduate medical education councils, medical colleges, the Australian Medical Council, the AMA Council of Salaried Doctors, the Australian Medical Students’ Association, the AMA Council of Doctors and Training, and relevant associations.

The AMA Medical Intern Training Bottleneck Summit will be held in Canberra at AMA House on 29 September 2010.

27 August 2010

CONTACT:            John Flannery                       02 6270 5477 / 0419 494 761

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