Australian Medical Association

The consortium of eleven graduate medical schools is seeking the ACCC’s permission to continue its policies and practices for selecting applicants to graduate medical schools. These include the preference policy where applicants submit a single application to the Graduate Australian Medical Schools Admission Centre, and the one interview policy whereby applicants receive only one offer for an interview.

In its submission the AMA has said that, on balance, the public benefits from authorising the graduate medical school consortium to continue these polices and practices outweighs any potential drawbacks;  however, the AMA has noted that where a graduate medical school uses the interview process to look for certain qualities in an applicant, there is the potential for the applicant to be disadvantaged by the interview process in some circumstances. The AMA has encouraged the ACCC to address these issues in the authorisation process.

The Australian Curriculum Framework is being developed by the Confederation of Postgraduate Medical Education Councils and will define the core capabilities expected of prevocational doctors. The AMACDT has provided feedback on the revised version of the framework.

RANZCR’s training program is being assessed by the Australian Medical Council (AMC). The review is part of the AMC’s ongoing program of external assessment and accreditation of specialist medical education and training. The AMA has prepared a submission on RANZCR’s training program to the AMC, based on trainee input.

The Federal Parliament's Senate Community Affairs Committee is conducting an Inquiry into the Health Workforce Australia Bill 2009 (the "Bill"). The Commonwealth agreed to establish a new health workforce agency at the November 2008 Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting and this Bill seeks to implement that commitment.

The AMA has provided a submission to the Senate Inquiry.

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.

AMA submission to the AMC regarding the training program of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP).

Some of the issues raised by trainees include concerns about the training and information provided to supervisors and examiners, the examination process, and the availability of remediation for trainees in difficulty.

A guide for prospective medical students on the steps to becoming a doctor and the bonded medical places that are offered by the Australian Government.

AMA Position Statement Pre-Internships In Medical School - 2007

AMA Submission to DEST Medical Education Study