2012 AMA Junior Doctor Training, Education and Supervision Survey

Quality clinical training, education and supervision in public hospitals underpin medical education in Australia and should be seen as an investment in the future health care for Australian communities.  

The 2012 AMA TES survey of junior doctors delivers mixed results for public teaching hospitals in Australia.  While there are indications that the medical education system is coping despite large increases in training capacity, there is significant room for improvement in a number of areas.

Areas where junior doctors thought there was room for improvement included:

• quarantined time for research;
• processes to develop research skills;
• support for part-time/flexible hours;
• access to office space; and
• providing teaching skills for junior doctors.

The AMA is calling for:

• Increased educational oversight for prevocational doctors beyond PGY2+, with increasing integration of unaccredited registrar posts into vocational training;
• Recognition and development of the role of junior doctors as teachers and trainers with the provision of education and resources to develop the teaching skills of junior doctors;
• Improved provision of flexible working hours by both employers and vocational training providers;
• The urgent development of an articulated clinical academic pathway for medical students, trainees, senior doctors and existing clinical academics;
• The exploration of robust and transparent funding models for teaching and training, ensuring that investment in these activities is adequate with indexed, protected funding; and
• A framework for measuring the quality of medical training.  This should include consideration of a national training survey, development of key performance indicators, and inclusion in the National Health Performance Authority’s performance and accountability framework.

Read the full report here.