Support our regional workforce
International medical graduates are being left without support and career opportunities when they arrive and the 11 June state budget must fix this, AMA Queensland says. “As an overseas trained doctor myself, I understand the huge leap of faith it takes to move to Australia from another country” - AMA Queensland Vice President Dr Emilia Dauway.
Queensland’s regional health system relies on international medical graduates (IMGs) but is failing to support them with training and career opportunities.
The AMA Queensland Budget Submission 2024-25 calls for better training, clearer career pathways, and more support for IMGs.
“As an overseas trained doctor myself, I understand the huge leap of faith it takes to move to Australia from another country,” AMA Queensland Vice President Dr Emilia Dauway said.
“Our IMGs are among the most at-risk doctors for poor mental health.
“Adjusting to life in another country and a new health system can be confronting. It can be hard to find advice on workplace issues like employment contracts and entitlements.
“We do not have enough training places, and even when IMGs get on a training program, the resources and guidance can be lacking.
“This is a leading cause of distress for locally trained junior doctors and IMGs alike.
“It forces many practitioners to resign from hospital positions and work as locums, or leave medicine altogether.
“We cannot afford to lose the graduates our medical schools produce or the doctors who are prepared to uproot themselves and their families to move to Australia.”
AMA Queensland is calling for the development of productive training pathways for recent medical graduates and IMGs that meet the needs of both doctors and the community.
“We are calling on Queensland Health to engage with the Medical Board, medical colleges and universities to identify the numbers of doctors required and the training places available,” Dr Dauway said.
“Workforce planning must be needs-based to fix increasingly chronic staff shortages.
“Our health workforce is overstretched, under-resourced, and hanging on by a thread.
“Our healthcare system, particularly in regional Queensland, relies on doctors moving here from overseas.
“While we welcome the state government’s financial incentives for international doctors to relocate to regional Queensland, we have to ensure we can keep them.”
The AMA Queensland Budget Submission 2024-25 can be read here.
