AMACDT farewells Alex Markwell

During the most recent meeting of the AMA Council of Doctors in Training, members took the opportunity to farewell Dr Alex Markwell, the council’s chair for the past two years. Alex was thanked for her passionate advocacy on behalf of doctors in training. The new AMACDT Chair will be appointed at the AMA Federal Council meeting to be held in Melbourne on 28-29 May.

AMACDT Leadership Development Dinner 2009

The AMA National Conference will be in Melbourne on 29-31 May 2009. The AMA will be hosting its annual DiT leadership development dinner as part of the conference on Friday 29 May. All doctors in training and medical students are invited to attend.

Michael Milton, the champion skier, cyclist and Paralympian will be the guest speaker. Michael has also overcome cancer on two occasions. It will be a fascinating and inspiring evening.

The dinner includes a two-course meal and drinks. The cost is $55 for students, $65 for doctors in training, and $90 for all other attendees. Call (02) 6270 5481 or email ditnetwork@ama.com.au for your ticket. Find out more

AMA’s salaried doctors and doctors in training committees meet in Canberra

The AMA’s Coordinating Committee of Salaried Doctors and the AMACDT held a joint meeting in Canberra on 2 May 2009. Both groups meet together periodically to discuss issues of common interest.

The key topic of discussion was training capacity and future arrangements for clinical placements. Reports from delegates revealed that governments need to invest more time and resources to provide sufficient intern and specialist training posts in the public health sector as graduate numbers increase.

Other issues covered at the meeting included doctors’ health, competency-based training in medical education, the future of the Medical Training Review Panel, physician assistant trials and the revised draft AMC National Code of Professional Conduct for Medical Practitioners. Delegates also considered a draft AMA position statement on bullying and harassment in the workplace.

AMA writes to Minister on clinical training places

The AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, has written to the Minister for Health and Ageing to seek assurances that there will be sufficient clinical training positions for interns and specialist trainees in the public sector. The letter also re-affirmed the AMA’s support for an expanded role for the Medical Training Review Panel and raised concerns about the scope of the new national health workforce agency. Read the AMA’s letter

Federal Budget outcomes

The recent Federal Budget has confirmed additional funding for undergraduate clinical training places as well as extra training positions in the private sector for general practice and other specialist trainees. These initiatives were originally announced as part of the clinical training package agreed by the Council of Australian Governments in November 2008.

In other outcomes, the HECS Reimbursement Scheme has been adjusted to give junior doctors more credit towards their HECS bill according to the remoteness of the location. Similarly, the Bonded Medical Places scheme has been adjusted to enable participants to reduce their return of service obligations according to the level of rurality. Funding has been provided to help establish a medical school in the Northern Territory.

PGPPP wins budget support

The Prevocational General Practice Placements Program was boosted with an additional $41 million in the budget to support an extra 160 places annually. The AMA has campaigned strongly to have this valuable program expanded.

AMA members who would like to find out more about the budget outcomes can go to our online budget edition of Australian Medicine.

AMA online fatigue risk assessment tool

Feeling like your roster is wearing you out?

The AMA offers all doctors a unique web-based tool to help cut the number of doctors suffering fatigue, and make hospitals safer for patients and doctors. The AMA's fatigue risk assessment website enables doctors to track their work, on-call, recreational and sleeping hours over a week, and determine whether their work arrangements are placing them at risk of serious fatigue. Find out more

6th National Doctors Health Conference

The Healthy Doctors Better Medicine (the 6th National Doctors Health Conference) will be held in Adelaide on 3-5 September 2009. Medical students and doctors at any stage in their career are invited to attend. A sub-theme of the program is the health of medical students and junior doctors. Find out more

2010 Australian General Practice Training program intake

The selection for the 2010 AGPT Program opened today and closes on 22 June. Information for all prospective applicants, including the AGPT Applicant Guide 2010, is available on the AGPT website.

2009 MIGA Doctors in Training Grants Program

The MIGA DiT Grants Program provides funding to assist doctors in training pursue specialist training opportunities in Australia and abroad. Funds are available to assist doctors meet the expenses associated with this additional training. Find out more about the 2009 DiT grants program here.