From the Chair

As I write this, I have just come off back-to-back COVID shifts as a rheumatology trainee – a signal that we have entered yet another year of COVID impacting the lives of DiTs across the country. 

Your AMA Council of Doctors in Training (AMACDT) has started the year with ongoing advocacy to ensure trainees, especially those sitting examinations, are well prepared and that the impacts of COVID are recognised. We have been working with your individual College Trainee Committees to ensure there are clear and transparent examination contingency plans and also a no disadvantage approach to assessment overall. We know that DiTs have faced the brunt of COVID, working extended hours, having leave cancelled and postponed, being redeployed to unfamiliar areas with minimal notice and having essential education and training requirements either deferred or completely missed. We are here to support you through this period and please reach out if you have any issues you think we can help with. 

COVID aside, we continue to do advocacy around other important issues relevant to DiTs, including workforce and industrial, bullying and harassment, service registrars and prevocational issues, entry into vocational training, and trainee wellbeing. 

If you would like to get involved - we will be opening up nominations for our Federal AMACDT Special Interest Groups (SIGs) and Advisory Committees (ACs) in the next couple of weeks – so please keep an eye out for this. We have a wide range of advocacy issues which you can choose from if you want to have your say, and this year we shall be introducing a new Global Health SIG. 

If you have any feedback, comments, questions – please get in touch with us at cdt.chair@ama.com.au  

Looking forward to another year of great advocacy to improve the lives of our fellow DiTs across Australia! 

Hash Abdeen 

Chair | Federal AMA Council of Doctors in Training