National Medical Training Advisory Network Consultation

The AMA has made a comprehensive submission to the National Medical Training Advisory Network (NMTAN) consultation, which emphasises a number of key points to guide improved coordination of the medical training system. The AMA continue to work with Health Workforce Australia to ensure the NMTAN can play an effective role in improving the overall coordination of medical training.  Key points in the AMA’s submission include but not limited to:

• The community’s requirements for health services should be the overriding driver of medical workforce provision and development.
• Healthcare delivery must firstly be viewed at the level of the individual practitioner and their patients.
• A COAG agreement is urgently needed to ensure that each jurisdiction funds training positions appropriately and in a coordinated fashion to meet the health workforce requirements of the entire country.
• As an overriding principle, training, whether delivered in a structured fashion or opportunistically, must be recognised for the value it brings to the care of patients.
• Restructuring early experiences to align with the burden of disease would better achieve an appropriate distribution for the workforce. 
• The AMA strongly supports yearly updates to the input data for the HW2025 modelling including ongoing re-assessment of the assumptions upon which the model is based. 
• Looking forward, developing evidence through an annual National Training Survey (NTS) would allow for the modification of training planning as well as assessment of training interventions.
• Ensuring that there is a mechanism for input into the development of appropriate funding models in Teaching, Training and Research through the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority is an important lever to both set and measure efficiency.
• As increasing numbers of local medical graduates progress through training and attain Fellowship, the requirement to recruit IMGs to these positions should decrease.  
• The NMTAN should provide advice regarding the quantum of training that is required and mechanisms by which that training is incorporated into service delivery. 
• There is no place for NMTAN to supplant the role of the colleges and post-graduate medical councils or their equivalent in setting training standards or administering accreditation for their trainees.