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 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.

AMA Vice President Prof Geoff Dobb speaks to the AMSA Leadership Development Seminar about the future of leadership in health reform. He discusses ways medical students can participate in the AMA, health reform, medical workforce training, working abroad, national consistency in medical training and current AMA projects.

The AMA will today launch A Guide to Working Abroad for Australian Medical Students and Junior Doctors, a practical resource to assist medical students and young doctors maximise the learning experience of working in medicine in other countries.

Deputy Chair of the AMA Council of Doctors in Training (AMACDT) and co-author of the guide, Dr Rob Mitchell, said the guide is essential reading for any medical student or junior doctor planning to work overseas.

“Students and young doctors who are keen to make a contribution to global health now have easy access to comprehensive information that will help make their overseas placement a success,” Dr Mitchell said.

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).

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 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.

MJA media release: Dissection anatomy should be an integral component of medical education, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Prof George Ramsey-Stewart, Professor of Surgical Anatomy at the University of Sydney, and co-authors evaluated the 2010 “Anatomy by whole body dissection” elective course offered to senior medical students at the University of Sydney.

MJA media release - The lack of adequate training subsidies for undergraduate medical student training is costing general practices, according to an article in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Dr Caroline Laurence, Research and Development Manager of Adelaide to Outback GP Training Program, and co-authors conducted a study to identify the financial costs and benefits associated with teaching in private general practice.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said that the AMA welcomes additional funding for medical student training announced by the Government today.

Dr Pesce said the funding would only deliver the desired future medical workforce results if it were complemented with comprehensive workforce planning arrangements and extra training places for medical graduates once they have finished their university courses.