Committee of Doctors in Training October update

Resident Hospital Health Check

This past month has been a busy one. The results of the 2022 Resident Hospital Health Check were released. Sadly, the results continue to show that more and more junior doctors across Queensland are fatigued, and worried about making clinical errors at work. This is frustratingly not news to anyone. Thanks to ongoing AMA Queensland CDT advocacy, I was able to attend the Queensland Health Medical Workforce Summit. This summit highlighted the dire situation facing medical workforces around the world as well as here in Queensland. Unfortunately, the solutions being discussed were unlikely to have any measurable impact on the work pressures facing junior doctors.

Mental Health and Wellbeing Summit

Next month Queensland Health will host a staff Mental Health and Wellbeing Summit. This event was won off the back of sustained CDT advocacy. We are still waiting to find out how many CDT representatives are invited to this event, but remain hopeful that Queensland Health will work with us to improve the working conditions, support programs, and implement other initiatives to improve the mental health of doctors in Queensland. We know patient care suffers when doctors are burnt out. We need Queensland Health to look after us, so we can continue looking after Queenslanders.

Junior Doctor Conference

November also marks the long awaited Gold Coast Junior Doctor Conference. The program has been curated by CDT's own Dr Natasha Abeysekera, and focuses on creative careers in medicine and all the various possibilities we have as doctors. It promises to be an inspiring two-day event with top-notch speakers, and a great social event at Top Golf. 

We’re closing in on the last three months of the 2022 medical training year. It’s been a long year with immense pressures on our hospitals, and incredible workplace demands being put on junior doctors. I know many of us are tired, and frustrated, but together we have accomplished great things this year, and I know our efforts are appreciated by the patients we help and their families. Make sure you take time for yourself to recover from the past year, and thank you for all the work you have done, and continue to do.