Australian Medical Association

AMA Federal Councillor and AMA NT President, Dr Paul Bauert, said today that the Australian Government could learn a lot from the experiences of non-government organisations (NGOs) internationally about how best to make real improvements in Indigenous health.

Dr Bauert is this week attending the United Nations Advance Global Health Conference in Melbourne.

 The AMA will next month host a summit of key medical training stakeholders to discuss and develop solutions to the crisis around the shortage of prevocational and vocational training positions for medical school graduates.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that Australia faces the loss of hundreds of locally produced, highly trained medical graduates to other countries or other professions.

Transcript: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, with Leon Delaney, 2SM Radio, Thursday 26 August 2010

Subject: Medical internships shortage

PowerBuy and the AMA have partnered to give Members savings on popular IT products and services.  PowerBuy offers discounted deals on brands including Dell, Lenovo, HP, Fuji Xerox and NETGEAR.

Seasonal influenza vaccines for children - withdrawal of Panvax Junior; medical internship shortage at crisis point; AMA position statement on primary health care; PIP Indigenous health incentive and PBS co-payment measure; Support family doctors petition

This information package will assist a General Practitioner to make a decision about moving into a corporate practice.

This covers many of the issues you need to consider when making the decision.  This tells you what a corporate is, what matters you need to think about in closing your existing practice, what will life be like working for a corporate and maybe afterwards.

The AMA shares the concerns of Australia’s biggest medical schools that the national shortage of medical internships has severe implications for the future medical workforce and its ability to meet the health care needs of a growing and ageing population, with more people suffering chronic and complex conditions.

Dr Pesce said the internship shortage has reached crisis point and all Australian governments, including the next Commonwealth Government, must work together to find solutions.

Supporting the medical workforce

The topic of the Conference – ‘10 Years From Now’ – is very appropriate given the era of health reform in which we are all operating at the moment.

We do need to plan for the future.

This session is titled ‘Medical Practitioner Registration and Training – issues for CHA facilities in 2010 and beyond’.

An important part of the future of our health system is the medical workforce.

This Position Statement examines the role of general practice in the delivery of primary care services in Australia.

The National Immunisation Strategy and General Practice

The AMA is a strong advocate for immunisation and it welcomes the review of the National Immunisation Strategy.

It will provide an opportunity to develop a planning framework that will enable us to build on and enhance initiatives in immunisation and vaccine-preventable disease now and for the future.

We've had a Great response to the 'Support Family Doctors campaign' and the more signatures we have to present to the government, the bigger the impact. If you have not yet signed the petition or would like to print out a copy for your patients to sign please visit our 'Support Family Doctors Website'.

Seasonal influenza vaccines for children; Support Family Doctors petition; Telemedicine an important component of a modern health system; Online resources on doctors’ health and wellbeing

Transcript: AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, with Richard Aedy, Life Matters, ABC Radio National, Tuesday 17 August 2010

Subject: Election health policy; Collaboration between obstetricians and midwives

This position statement sets out the principles the AMA considers should underpin the national introduction of time-based targets for public hospital emergency departments (EDs) in order that patient safety and outcomes, quality of care and the training of doctors are not compromised.

The National Health and Hospitals Network

Good morning.

My subject today is the Government’s National Health and Hospitals Network.

If this speech was being delivered next week, it could possibly be a very different speech depending on the election result.

Labor and the Coalition have different views on the future of the National Health and Hospitals Network.

It is our job at the AMA to make sure both sides are serious about health reform.

1. Scope

The AMA welcomes today’s commitment from Labor that, if elected, it would invest heavily in telemedicine to support and enhance health services as a part of a modern health system.

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said the investment would assist doctors to better use communications technology to provide services to patients who would otherwise have limited or no access to these services.

“This is a recognition of the need to embrace communications technology to modernise our health system,” Dr Pesce said.

The AMA has developed a Privacy Resource handbook to help doctors comply with the Privacy Act 1988.

The Resource handbook is based on the Privacy Act 1988 in force as at 1 July 2010.

The AMA intends to update this Resource Book if the proposed changes become law.

MJA media release - The worsening severity in sleep-disordered breathing is primarily attributable to increases in obesity, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Dr Jeffery Pretto, Stephen Gyulay and Professor Michael Hensley, from the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at the John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle, and School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle, conducted a study aimed at describing trends in sleep-disordered breathing (SDB) severity and whether incidences and severity changed in the Hunter New England region between 1987 and 2007.

Dr Jeffery Pretto said that between 1987 and 2007, 14,648 new diagnostic sleep studies were performed.

MJA media release - Asbestos remains a global health threat, with over two million tonnes produced in 2008. Developing countries are mining and importing asbestos for domestic use, according to an article published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Professor Peter Sly, Deputy Director of the Queensland Children’s Medical Research Institute at the University of Queensland, and co-authors are calling for action to support the latest international effort to ban the mining and manufacturing of all forms of asbestos; to increase effective education of the dangers of asbestos; and to urge our legislators to increase their efforts to rid the world of asbestos-related disease.

MJA media release - Interest and awareness about bipolar disorder are slowly shifting, largely due to emerging treatments and research, according to an article in a supplement to the current edition of the Medical Journal of Australia.

Prof David Castle, from the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne, Prof Michael Berk, from the Department of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Melbourne, and Barbara Hocking, Executive Director of SANE Australia, examined emerging treatments for and research on bipolar disorder.

Prof Castle said bipolar disorder is attracting an upsurge of interest among the general public and in clinical and research arenas, which is being driven largely by the emergence of a range of new pharmacological and psychological treatments.

MJA media release - Hospitalisation rates for injuries due to non-traffic crashes among New South Wales (NSW) residents has increased over the past ten years, despite fatalities due to road crashes declining, according to a study published in the Medical Journal of Australia.

Non-traffic crashes are those involving any vehicles that occur anywhere other than on a public highway.

Dr Julie Hatfield and Dr Shanley  Chong, from the NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre at the University of NSW, with Dr Wei Du from the George Institute for International Heath at the University of Sydney, conducted a study to examine the trends in hospitalisation rates for injuries due to non-traffic crashes among NSW residents.

The AMA is seeking to appoint a highly motivated person to the full time position of System Administrator/Web Technician. This role is technical in nature and would suit an applicant who can adapt quickly and enjoys working in a small team.

The successful candidate will have a strong background in the administration of Linux servers. They will also have a broad knowledge of website technologies, software, content management systems (CMS) and associated network protocols.

The IT department is committed to staying abreast of innovations in the field and consider, where possible, appropriate uses of these technologies. This role needs to maintain a currency of skill set and knowledge across new and emerging technologies to assist in achieving this goal.

For further information and a confidential discussion please contact Michael Manning, IT and Infrastructure Manager, AMA on 02 6270 5455. All applications will remain in the strictest confidence.

Applications close by COB 24th August 2010.

The AMA this week called on the major parties to commit to proper indexation of the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) should they be elected on 21 August.

We also sought a promise that there would be no further cuts to specific MBS items, as happened last year with cataract surgery, joint injections, cardiac angiography, pathology, and IVF procedures.

The next Government must make a significant investment in the MBS in order to stop shifting more and more of the cost of health care on to patients.

The Department of Health and Ageing is calling for applications under the Primary Care Infrastructure Grants Scheme.  Money is being made available to help GP clinics upgrade facilities and to provide new or additional facilities. Applications close on 20 August 2010.

The AMA had prepared a guide for doctors considering applying.

AMACDT’s new leadership team; Election 2010; AMA health policy platform for Election 2010; AMA position statement on competency-based training; Online resources on doctors’ health and wellbeing; Australian Curriculum Framework for Junior Doctors website resources; UN NGO conference: Advance Global Health; MJA job share noticeboard.

Let us know your views in Election 2010; Support Family Doctors petition; Support Family Doctors campaign materials; General practice lobby kit; Primary Care Infrastructure Grants Scheme - AMA guide; Healthy kids check needs stronger evidence base; AMA calls for proper indexation of the MBS and no further cuts to medicare rebates; AMA calls for action on Indigenous health;

AMA President, Dr Andrew Pesce, said today that the AMA supports the principle that parents should be given greater incentive to take personal responsibility for making sure that their children have a healthy start to life, but the Healthy Kids Check, in its current form, is not the right way to achieve this outcome.

Dr Pesce said the Healthy Kids Check needs to be redesigned in consultation with the medical profession to ensure that it targets the right risk factors in children at the right age and that there is an evidence base for this approach.

The Productivity Commission is conducting an inquiry into Caring for Older Australians.

The AMA submission to the inquiry is based on existing AMA policy and general themes discussed at a consultation convened by the AMA between the Productivity Commission and AMA member geriatricians, old age psychiatrists, general practitioners, and rehabilitation and palliative care specialists on 2 July 2010.