Australian Medical Association

The AMA has warned patient access to medical care could become increasingly difficult unless urgent action is taken to address a looming shortfall of training places for medical graduates.

The AMA says a report released by the nation’s Health Ministers today shows there is a desperate need for Governments to fund extra pre-vocational and specialist training places in order to keep pace with the number of graduates emerging from medical schools.

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.

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 welcomes the Medical Board of Australia’s review of assessment processes for international medical graduates (IMGs) working in Australia.

The Board has announced it will work with the Australian Medical Council to determine the terms of a review of the assessment pathways for IMGs, which came into effect on 1 July 2008.

The Australian Medical Education Study report – What makes for success in medical education? – endorses calls by the AMA for greater investment in medical education and training to produce a medical workforce capable of meeting the future health needs of a growing and ageing population.

The study undertook research between 2005 and 2007 involving all the major stakeholders, and included surveys of medical students, junior doctors, educators and employers.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the report highlights the high international rating of an Australian medical education but advises that more needs to be done to properly fund and resource medical training in Australia.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the increase in doctor numbers reported by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW) is good news for the Australian community, but concerns remain about the ageing of the medical workforce, slower growth in GP numbers, and continuing doctor shortages in rural Australia.

The AIHW Medical labour force 2007 report shows there were an estimated 67,208 doctors practising medicine across Australia in 2007, which is an increase of 20.5 per cent from 2003.  However, GP numbers grew by only 10 per cent over the same period and, unlike the overall medical workforce, the average age of GPs is rising.

Dr Pesce said that Australia is facing greater health challenges with an ageing population and more people with complex and chronic conditions, and a quality medical workforce in sufficient numbers is needed to face these challenges.

The Department of Health and Ageing (DoHA) has developed changes to the federal legislation which restricts access to Medicare provider numbers and effectively limits where international medical graduates and “former overseas medical students” can work for a minimum period of 10 years – the “10-year moratorium”. AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, has written to Minister for Health and Ageing to request that the proposed amendments be introduced into Federal Parliament.

MJA Media Release -  Make national labour force survey compulsory

Medical practitioners should be required to participate in a new national medical labour force survey as part of their registration obligations, to assist workforce planning, according to an article published in this year’s General Practice edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.

Dr Deborah Askew, Senior Research Fellow in General Practice at the University of Queensland, and her co-authors argue that the data from the current workforce surveys administered by state and territory medical boards are neither timely nor comprehensive.

Dr Askew said the establishment of a new national medical registration scheme and a National Minimum Data Set Project in 2010 should be used to move medical workforce data collection into the 21st century.

The Federal Parliament's Senate Community Affairs Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the Health Workforce Australia Bill 2009 (the "Bill"). The Commonwealth agreed to establish a new health workforce agency at the November 2008 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting and this Bill seeks to implement that commitment.

The AMA has provided a submission to the Senate Inquiry.

AMA Position Statement: Health Workforce Reform - 2008