Doctors Want Better Work-life Balance

The AMA Work-Life Flexibility Survey reveals 81 per cent of hospital doctors surveyed want greater access to flexible working arrangements to allow them to spend more time with family and friends, take time to look after their kids, or continue further formal training.

AMA President, Dr Rosanna Capolingua, said doctors are dedicated people who are committed to their work and caring for their patients, but it was important to remember that doctors have the same personal demands on their time as anyone else.

"The demands of being a doctor must be balanced with personal needs or the doctor's working life may be shortened. We need to do everything we can to keep them in the workforce as long as possible," she said.

The survey showed 85 per cent of doctors believe they will need some form of flexible working and training arrangement over the next decade.

Dr Capolingua said this large unmet demand for work-life flexibility meant hospitals and training providers would need to change to meet the expectations of doctors entering the profession.

"Health employers will need to adapt as future graduates demand a workplace that will allow them to achieve a genuine balance between work and lifestyle.

"Those hospitals that have the most family and employee friendly arrangements will become the employers of choice."

The demand for flexible arrangements is evenly divided between junior and senior doctors but senior doctors are the biggest users of flexible arrangements. Demand for work-life flexibility is similar among male and female doctors.

Dr Capolingua said flexible work practices are equally beneficial for doctors, the hospitals they work in and, most importantly, their patients.

"We have to look after the health of our doctors so they can provide the best care for their patients," she said.

"The AMA has campaigned for a number of years for greater work-life flexibility, and will continue to do so."

The AMA has a number of work-life flexibility resources, including the AMA - Medical Journal of Australia Job Share Register, to help doctors to achieve work-life balance. These resources are available at www.ama.com.au

The full Work-Life Flexibility Report can be viewed here.

Key Findings from the AMA Work-Life Flexibility Survey

The AMA Work-Life Flexibility Survey was an online survey of over 600 junior and senior-salaried public hospital doctors from across Australia.

The survey was designed to assess the level of access by public hospital doctors to flexible training and working arrangements in their workplace and their requirements for such arrangements in the future.

Findings from the survey include:

• 81 per cent of doctors indicated that they would like greater access to flexible working arrangements,
• 85 per cent of doctors believe that they will need some form of flexible working and training arrangement as a legitimate and accessible career option over the next one to 10 years,
• The results of the survey confirm that the demography and attitudes of the medical workforce are changing, in line with societal change — more women than men are graduating from medical schools and all medical practitioners of both genders are seeking a better quality of life and better working conditions,
• The demand for flexible arrangements is evenly divided between junior doctors and their senior counterparts,
• Senior doctors are the biggest users of flexible arrangements,
• Flexible working hours is the most commonly sought-after arrangement for doctors of both genders,
• Junior doctors have the greatest demand for flexible rostering and flexible working hours,
• The most common reasons why doctors want flexible arrangements include time with families and friends, caring for children, and reducing work-related stress,
• Doctors believe that cultural and institutional factors and staff shortages are the major barriers to flexible training and working arrangements in the medical workplace. The ability to access flexible training arrangements is an ongoing problem for junior doctors,
• Just over half of the doctors surveyed have accessed some form of flexible working and training arrangement in the 12 months preceding the survey. Part-time work is the most commonly used flexible arrangement, and
• Flexible working arrangements are more common for female doctors than male doctors; 60 per cent of female doctors have accessed some form of flexible working arrangement in the 12 months preceding the survey compared to 44 per cent of male doctors.