Welcome again to your monthly AMACDT e-DIT Newsletter Update!

Over the past month, we have continued our strong advocacy to ensure College examinations continue to proceed with adequate contingencies in place. With more examination difficulties, the ongoing impacts of COVID in the third year of the pandemic and unpredictable and devastating natural disasters, it is expected that all Colleges have robust and transparent contingency plans that trainees are well informed of prior to exam days. We are working with all the Colleges, the AMC and the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges (CPMC) to ensure we get this right given the significant disruptions exam failures have for trainees, their families and friends and the greater workforce. 

We also continue to work in the space of doctor in training wellbeing and bullying and harassment, and plan on expanding our advocacy in this space. Further with the launch of the National Medical Workforce Strategy, we continue to advocate for quality training and education with protected workforce spaces and supported career progression, particularly in the unaccredited prevocational and service registrar space.  

The above aligns with our 2022 AMACDT Strategic Advocacy Plans which include the following priorities areas for us to work together on: 1) Trainee wellbeing (including bullying, discrimination & harassment), 2) Progression through training and 3) Support for unaccredited registrars and prevocational trainees. The full plan will be released in the next few weeks. 

Also on International Women's Day, I’d like to acknowledge the enormous contribution made by women in medicine to achieving excellence in healthcare. More women than ever before are joining the medical profession. The AMA is committed to achieving gender equity in its leadership and representative structures and has teamed up with the ‘Advancing Women in Healthcare Leadership Project’, a large-scale national research and impact project, to drive change. On International Women's Day, help us achieve and exceed our targets by completing a survey before 25 March. 

If you would like to be involved with any of our advocacy, please also keep an eye out for expressions of interest, which are opening up for our Federal AMACDT Special Interest Groups (SIGs) & Advisory Committees (ACs) soon. Below is a list of the current groups, with more details soon to be released with the EOI process. 

AMACDT Special Interest Groups (SIGs) & Advisory Committees (ACs)  

• Wellbeing SIG 
• Industrial SIG 
• Prevocational SIG 
• Global Health SIG (new) 
• GPs in Training Advisory Committee (GTAC) 
• CDT Policy Advisory Committee (CPAC) 

As always, your feedback is welcomed to cdt.chair@ama.com.au! 

Dr Hash Abdeen

Chair, AMA Council of Doctors in Training