Australian Medical Association

Did you graduate from medical school in 2010?

If the answer is yes then you are invited to participate in a very important longitudinal study – the Medical Schools Outcomes Database & Longitudinal Tracking (MSOD) Project – which has been endorsed by the AMA Council of Doctors in Training (AMACDT).

If you have already completed this survey, thank you for your participation.

If you haven't had an opportunity to complete your PGY1 Questionnaire for the MSOD Project yet then please read on.

The theme for the 2012 AMACDT Trainee Forum is ‘Training pathways for the future’ and will be held in Sydney on 3 March 2012.

The agenda includes expanding vocational training capacity, teaching and research opportunities for trainees, and global health training.

Details are as follows:

Date: Saturday 3 March 2012, 0900-1700

Location: AMA NSW House, 69 Christie St, St Leonards, NSW, 2065

RSVP: to nbrowne@ama.com.au by Monday 20 February 2012

The AMA has made a submission to the Medical Board of Australia's second round consultation on the proposed registration standard for granting registration as a medical practitioner on completion of intern training. In it we have again emphasised that a term in emergency medical care should ideally be completed in an emergency department and recommended that there must be a mechanism for an intern to apply to the MBA to have exceptional circumstances considered on a case-by-case basis. Read the full submission here.

The AMA Council of Doctors-in-Training (AMACDT) provides strong representation and leadership on issues of importance to junior doctors. The AMACDT consists of nominees from all states and territories and meets four times a year to discuss the issues affecting junior doctors and how to address those issues through advocacy and communications.

In February each year, the AMACDT convenes a Trainee Forum to coincide with its council meeting. This provides an opportunity for medical colleges, societies and other trainee representative groups to progress issues of common interest to achieve results for trainees.

The AMA has identified the medical workforce shortage as a major health issue with the overall distribution of doctors being skewed heavily towards major cities such that regional, rural and remote areas shoulder a disproportionate workforce shortage burden. There is a strong preference amongst much of the current medical workforce to live and work in major cities. So much so that attracting young professionals to rural locations is extremely difficult. The AMA believes the factors affecting the supply of medical workforce in rural areas should be viewed in the context of generalism; remuneration and incentives; hospital infrastructure; compensation and family support; costs of establishing a practice and access to community; high on-call demands and the need for rosters and locum services;and recruitment of international medical graduates (IMG) doctors.The submission makes a series of recommendations addressing these issues as well as the effect of the introduction of Medicare Locals, anomalies with the ASGC scheme and the need to extend MBS telehealth items.

Are you a doctor in training considering moving to another state? What terms and conditions of employment am I likley to find in that state?

The following Guide to Junior Doctors Employment outlines the different awards and agreements for Junior Doctors in each state and Territory in Australia.

Did you know that the RACGP Vocational Training Standards are changing? The new draft standards involve significant change and a move to an outcomes based approach. Supervisors and doctors-in-training have expressed concern about some elements of the draft standards. Find out what the changes to the Vocational Training Standards could mean for you by reading our submission.

Learn how simulated learning environments can be used to enhance the clinical training experience for doctors-in-training. The AMA position statement on The role of simulated learning environments on postgraduate medical education and training (2011) says that simulation can add significant value to medical training by complementing the education delivered in patient care settings, and encourages further research and evaluation to build an evidence base about what works best for trainees.

The provision of out-of-hours care is a key part of general practice. The AMA Out-of-Hours Primary Medical Care 2011 position statement has been developed to guide the design of these services, outlining the essential feature of a successful model of out-of-hours primary medical care.

This submission responds to the HWA draft background paper - Rural and Remote Health Workforce Innovation and Reform Strategy released in July 2011 as part of the consultation process.

The AMA believes it is important that the Government gets it right to ensure that the health workforce in rural and remote areas is sustainable and that people in rural communities can access affordable, appropriate health care services when needed.

National Minimum Terms and Conditions for GP Registrars - revised November 2011

The 2010 agreement has been updated and contains the rates which apply from the start of the 2012 training year.

The Report of Findings for the 2010 AMA Specialist Trainee Survey (STS) were released on 2 October 2011.  While the STS has been several years in the making, the AMA hopes the results of the survey will provide medical colleges with important trainee feedback about key training issues. 

The STS revealed that colleges are performing well in many areas of vocational training, including transparency of selection processes; alignment of clinical experience with training objectives; access to supervision; and adherence to safe hours guidelines. It identified, however, several areas of concern.

The AMA has made a submission to the Medical Board of Australia on its Proposed Registration Standard – Granting registration as a medical practitioner on completion of intern training. The Board's proposed standard includes the option for health services to provide interns with exposure to emergency medicine (EM) in a general practice context. Of utmost concern to the AMA is the absence of clear criteria about what would constitute appropriate exposure to EM under this type of arrangement. As a result, the AMA has offered to be part of the team that will prepare guidelines to better define the Board’s requirements. In the mean time, the AMA maintains that all interns should have access to a term in an Emergency Department.

This statement outlines the AMA’s position on the scope and structure of prevocational medical education, which encompasses the period between graduation and the commencement of vocational training. In the case of most trainees, it includes postgraduate year 1 (PGY1), also known as internship, and postgraduate year 2 (PGY2). Doctors at this stage of their training are collectively referred to as junior medical officers (JMOs). The statement provides a position on contemporary as well as emerging issues related to prevocational medical education and training, taking into account concerns raised by junior doctors regarding quality, streaming, competencies and vocational pathways.

There are more doctors-in-training across Australia than ever before. The AMA is committed to ensuring that they have access to high-quality undergraduate, prevocational and vocational education and training, as well as appropriate working conditions. The AMA Council of Doctors-in-Training is the AMA's representative group for doctors-in-training. Key areas of activity include advocacy, resource development and delivering members benefits relevant to junior doctors.

Career Planning for Doctors-in-Training

Link to: A Guide to Working Abroad for Australian Medical Students and Junior Doctors; World Medical Association (WMA); NZMA's Doctors-in-Training Council (DITC).

Medical Students, junior doctors, supervisors, policy-makers, medical colleges and societies will find the following resources useful.

Advocacy tools; Career Planning; Doctors' Health; Global Health; Job Share Noticeboard; Medical News; Medical Benefits; Professionalism and the Workplace; Upcoming Events;

Links to: Social Media; AMA Clinical Handover Guide; Mandatory reporting; AMA Junior Doctor Training.

Medical News - Resources for Doctors-in-Training

Interested in working abroad as a junior doctor?  "A Guide to Working Abroad for Australian Medical Students and Junior Doctors" (the Guide) has been developed by the AMA Council of Doctors-in-Training (AMACDT) and Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) to meet a strong demand from medical students and junior doctors for evidence based and practical information on studying and training overseas.

Written by eight junior doctors in consultation with a range of Australian experts, the 90 page Guide is the gold standard for any medical student or junior doctor seeking to organise safe and rewarding placements and rotations abroad.

The Guide is available as an electronic supplement to the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA).

The AMA has made an additional submission to the Department of Health and Ageing to raise concerns identified by AMA member junior doctors. This submission:

• emphasises the need to ensure that time-based targets do not impact on the ability of public hospitals to provide quality clinical education and training;
• calls for ongoing resources to support the ability of emergency departments, the hospital and community providers to fulfil education and training obligations; and
• recommends that the monitoring and evaluation of the impact of targets also includes the impact on education, training and junior doctor experiences.

This submission supplements the submission lodged by the AMA on 25 May 2011.

Interested in working abroad as a junior doctor?  The AMA and AMSA will launch ‘A Guide to Working to Abroad for Australian Medical Students and Junior Doctors’ at an evening seminar at AMA Victoria on Tuesday 21 June 2011.

Details are as follows:

Tuesday 21 June
1830 (refreshments) for 1900
AMA Victoria House, 293 Royal Pde, Parkville
RSVP to amclennan@ama.com.au or 02 6270 5424

The AMA recently made a submission to Health Workforce Australia commenting on its National Clinical Supervision Support Framework - Consultation Draft. While generally supportive of the principles that underlie the Framework, the submission highlighted a number of core issues specific to medical supervision and training that should be addressed.

As part of a service to all of our members the AMA has mediated an agreement between GP Registrars and GP Supervisors that sets out minimum terms and conditions for GP Registrars. This agreement is negotiated every two years by the National GP Supervisors Association (NGPSA) and GP Registrars Australia (GPRA), with the AMA's assistance.

The 2011 agreement applies from the start of the 2011 training year.

The AMA submission highlights that the Australian Guidelines for the Prevention and Control of Infection in Healthcare 2010 already govern the management of health care practitioners who have blood-borne viruses and makes the point that there is no need to de-register a medical practitioner because they have a blood-borne virus.  The AMA has asked the Board to clarify its role in regulating the scope of practice of medical practitioners who are infected with a blood-borne virus in isolation from the way this issue is managed by medical practitioners and the health care organisations in which they practice.  The AMA has suggested the Board undertake a second round of consultation once it has clarified what action would constitute a breach of guidelines and that action the Board might take in such cases.

Pathology services in Australia are amongst the highest quality and the most accessible in the world. However, Government funding cuts to pathology services have had an impact on the quality, accessibility, affordability and safety of pathology services. Government funding changes can also have a significant impact on the sustainability of the pathology sector including the ability to support ongoing training, research and development.

The AMA 2011 National Conference will be held in Brisbane on 27-28 May. As part of the conference, the AMA will be hosting its annual DiT leadership development dinner on Friday 27 May 2011. All doctors-in-training and medical students are invited to attend.  Partners and guests are welcome.

Within the health care team, each professional brings a particular combination of training and experience which defines their role and responsibilities. This AMA Positition Statement outlines the core knowledge, skills and unique qualities of medical practice that make medical practitioners a pivotal part of Australia’s health system.  In this position statement the term ‘doctor’, which is the term in common community use, refers to a medical practitioner and the terms are used interchangeably.

The Health and Wellbeing of Doctors and Medical Students – 2011 replaces the Health and Wellbeing of Medical Students and Practitioners – 2006.

The health and welfare of doctors continues to be a priority for the AMA.  Junior doctors continue to experience distress in their workplace.  This position statement provides a basis for future AMA lobbying and addresses a number of current and topical issues faced by doctors in training on a daily basis.

It includes details on support mechanisms that should be put in place by training providers to address issues related to doctors’ health. The revision of the document also represented an opportunity to include recent developments in doctors’ health such as mandatory reporting.