Committee of Doctors in Training June update
Dr Rob Nayer, Chair, Committee of Doctors in Training
The first half of the year already behind us!
Looking at the calendar I can hardly believe it’s already June. This year had one of the more hectic starts that I can think of. First, we had a new group of interns, and recently promoted registrars starting their jobs during the worst COVID outbreak Queensland had seen in January/February. We then had to contend with the South East Queensland floods. Not an easy time for anyone, let alone doctors in training still trying to learn and progress their medical skills and knowledge. I think we all deserve a nice pat on the back for making it through!
After all the challenges we’ve had, we’re now facing unprecedented pressures on our public hospitals. Many of us are working extreme hours and feeling the effects throughout the rest of our lives. CDT advocacy never sleeps, and we’ve been hard at work advocating for Queensland Health to take responsibility for the psycho-social wellbeing of their staff. This has been done in other states, and it is past time Queensland Health Leadership accepted their responsibilities to safeguard some of the most vulnerable medical practitioners in their hospitals.
The Committee of Doctors in Training (CDT) is here to help support you. In this edition of The Script there is a heavy focus on mental health and wellbeing. This is because we know the status quo is literally killing our colleagues with doctor suicide rates far above those of the general population. We are past the time that changes were needed. You’ll see calls to action for a mental health summit to identify real world evidence-based solutions. The first step is getting everyone to agree, openly, that there’s a problem. Let’s now make finding solutions a key goal for the second half of this year.
While we work towards changing the system, we should also remember that the system is still made up of people. We can always try to do better to look after each other. June saw another Crazy Socks 4 Docs day come and go. This day is about more than breaking out your most colourful or adorable pair of socks. It’s about finding space within our days to talk about mental health. We need to normalise the act of not being okay and do what we can to support each other every day of the year. It starts with a conversation, and hopefully builds into a supportive community where we make sure we take care of ourselves and our colleagues, as well as our patients.
The AMA Queensland Junior Doctor Conference (JDC) is being held in Cairns this year, after a successful inaugural North Queensland event in Townsville in 2021. This years conference is one day long, and will focus on small group sessions with content targeted at medical students and residents. We’re really looking forward to seeing everyone there, and the optional workshop on the Sunday with the Royal Flying Doctor Service!
The annual Resident Hospital Health Check survey will be opening in the next month, and I encourage everyone to have their say about the current state of affairs and offer any thoughts you may have on how to make things better in the future. Change will only come through engagement. If you’d like to get more involved, please reach out by emailing cdt@amaq.com.au
Good luck with the second half of the year!