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.

The AMA submission to the National Prescribing Service (NPS) Prescribing Competencies Project highlights the need for greater emphasis on:

• adequate level of training to meet competency requirements to prescribe; 
• practitioners prescribing within their scope of practice;
• being competent in using knowledge and making judgments on when not to prescribe;
• referring a person to another health professional when that person’s clinical condition is outside scope of practice; 
• referring a person to a medical practitioner if they fail to improve within a specified period of time;
• keeping prescribing and dispensing separate; and   
• effectively communicating in English.

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.

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 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.

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.

Findings of the AMA Junior Doctor Training, Education and Supervision Survey

An AMA national survey of junior doctors has exposed insufficient medical training resources and infrastructure in our public hospitals.

The AMA Junior Doctor Training, Education and Supervision Survey has collated the views of more than 900 junior doctors from across Australia on the quality of their medical training and the support they are receiving to become independent practitioners.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that medical training in public hospitals is being held together by dedicated senior doctors who are giving their time and skills to junior doctors without the support of State Governments.

“This is another poor report card on the performance of our public hospitals,” Dr Pesce said.

This submission responds to the options for prevention of obesity, smoking and harmful alcohol use that are explored in the National Preventative Health Taskforce discussion paper - Australia: The Healthiest Country by 2020. The submission emphasises the crucial role of doctors in providing preventative health care.