Australian Medical Association

The AMA has identified medical workforce shortage as a major health issue. The Regional/Rural Workforce Initiatives - 2012 Position Statement looks at all the issues affecting workforce shortages in regional and rural Australia and outlines initiatives and measures which would offer solutions to the current workforce shortage.

Achieving high quality supervision and assessment of trainees must be a high priority for the health system. The AMA position statement on Supervision and assessment of hospital based postgraduate medical trainees (2012) outlines the key requirements for effective supervision and assessment of trainees to ensure the quality of medical education and training /remains of a high standard.

The costs associated with lifestyle related disease are increasing, evidence suggests that using financial incentives and disincentives with patients can encourage preventive health behaviours.

The residential aged care sector is under growing pressure as the number of older Australians aged over 85 is projected to increase over 4 fold by 2050. Given the importance of the residential aged care sector in the broader health care context, this statement outlines the AMA's position on the funding of residential aged care and proposes the principles that should underpin the development of a new funding model.

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 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.

Those seeking asylum and refugee status in Australia often experience trauma in their country of origin and are susceptible to a range of diseases and conditions. The AMA believes that refugees and asylum seekers should receive the same level and quality of health care as other Australians, regardless of citizenship, visa status or ability to pay. This Position Statement updates the AMA's position on the conditions that must be met to ensure the health and welfare of people seeking asylum and refuge in Australia.

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.

The AMA has made a submission to the Department of Health and Ageing, on the implementation of elective surgery and emergency department targets, which strongly advocates for an evidence-based approach to implementation. The AMA supports measures to improve the timeliness and quality of patient care in public hospitals but cautions against imposing arbitrary time-based targets that may carry more risks than potential benefits if they are not slowly, carefully and cautiously implemented.