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Deans welcome workforce report
Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand (Medical Deans) has welcomed Health Workforce Australia’s Health Workforce 2025 report (Volume 1), released on Friday by the Australian Health Ministers.
‘This is an important first step forward in establishing in one document a baseline for medical workforce planning and training into the future. We are in strong agreement with the general direction of the report and the issues it has identified for the next decade-plus,’ said the President of Medical Deans, Professor Justin Beilby.
‘Importantly it recognises Australia is now training enough medical students, and that we now need to urgently expand the number of training places for doctors after they have graduated, in a range of areas. This is clearly the major priority now’.
Professor Beilby said a significant increase in graduates in the next two years also offered an opportunity to tackle another aspect highlighted in the report, the mal-distribution of doctors across Australia.
‘We have long known there is a shortage of doctors in some parts of the country, especially in remote and rural areas,’ Professor Beilby said.
‘The new wave of students coming through in the offers an opportunity to influence where those new graduates works, with the aim of increasing doctor numbers in rural and remote settings.’
Professor Beilby said that since 2005, Medical Deans has been following medical students across Australia to see how their careers developed and where they chose to practise medicine.
‘This ongoing study (the Medical Schools Outcomes Database and Longitudinal Tracking Project)now covers more than 20,000 students and doctors, and has been a key data source for HWA during the development of the National Training Plan.’
‘This study is continuing to follow doctors as they progress in their careers, and is proving a rich source of data to inform medical education and workforce planning.’
Professor Beilby said all Australian-trained medical students, including those from overseas who paid their own fees, offered the most ethical and effective way of ensuring Australia was self-sufficient in doctors by 2025.
Medical Deans is made up of the Deans of Australia’s 18 university medical schools and the two New Zealand schools.
More information, Justin Beilby: (08) 8303 5193
Indigenous project reports now available
Medical Deans, in collaboration with AIDA, have recently completed two important projects:
1. Medical Deans – AIDA National Medical Education Review
2. Medical Deans – AIDA Capacity Building for Indigenous Medical Academic Leadership
The final reports for the both projects are now available.
Medical Deans submission to the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority
Click here to see the Medical Deans submission to the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA) on the draft pricing framework.
Landmark Indigenous agreement signed
Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand today signed a landmark agreement with Te Ohu Rata O Aotearoa (Te ORA) Māori Medical Practitioners Association of Aotearoa as part of its ongoing commitment to improve Indigenous health, and specifically Māori health equality in Aotearoa.
‘This agreement is a joint commitment to work together to realise the potential of Māori medical students and to strengthen the capacity of non-Indigenous medical graduates to practice with cultural competence and confidence in Māori health settings,’ said Professor Justin Beilby, the President of Medical Deans.
‘It also gives us the capacity to jointly influence broader structural reform and policy and program agendas in both national health and education.’
Professor Beilby said the agreement built on a similar agreement with the Australian Indigenous Doctors association, initially struck in 2005 and renewed in 2008. Medical Deans is made up of the Deans of Australia’s 18 university medical schools and the two New Zealand schools.
The agreement was signed at the opening of an international conference in Auckland, the Leaders in Indigenous Medical Education (LIME) Connection IV. The Conference brings together leading medical educators from Aotearoa/New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Hawaii and Vietnam.
‘This collaboration formalises the Deans’ commitment to Indigenous health and acknowledges the value and significance of Indigenous knowledge,’ Professor Beilby said ‘It is based on mutual respect and a commitment to joint decision making, constant learning and reflection.’
‘This MOU signals the beginning of an important relationship and work program between Māori doctors and the Medical Deans,’ said Dr Sue Crengle, the Chair of Te ORA. ‘Te ORA looks forward to working with Medical Deans to support the future growth and development of the Māori medical workforce.’
The LIME Network conference, known as LIME Connection, is held every two years in either Australia or Aotearoa/New Zealand.
More information: http://limenetwork.net.au/content/lime-connection-iv
First studies on medical student data
The first studies using data collected on almost 12,700 Australian medical students will be presented at a one-day conference in Sydney on Friday.
The studies include an analysis of what happens to foreign students who graduate as doctors in Australia, including how many choose to stay on in Australia and practise medicine.
Seven projects will feature at the Inaugural Research Forum for the Medical Schools Outcomes Database and Longitudinal Tracking (MSOD) project, with the research based on the material in the database.
The MSOD project is the world’s first nationally coordinated project that tracks medical students through university and then follows their medical careers. The project began in 2005 and involves all 18 Australian medical schools.
It is funded by the Federal Government and hosted by Medical Deans — which represents 18 medical schools in Australia and two in New Zealand — in collaboration with eight other stakeholders. Health Workforce Australia has funded the project since July, and is now using MSOD data to inform the National Training Plan.
‘The MSOD project was first funded seven years ago and has now amassed a significant amount of information that can be tapped into by researchers,’ said the Chair of the MSOD Board, Professor Nicholas Glasgow.
The project collects demographic, educational and career intention data from new medical students, during their course and on exit. Graduating doctors are followed up after one, three and five years.
Professor Glasgow said the project was a rich source of data for researchers and those shaping health workforce policy. ‘The database is of national significance because it will give us an understanding of what influences doctors’ career choices and will help with future workforce planning.’
NSW Health Minister Jillian Skinner will attend the conference at the Aerial UTS Function Centre in Ultimo.
Details of the research topics can be found at www.msodforum2011.com
More information: Mary Solomon, (02) 9114 1680
Medical Deans & AIDA working together to deliver doctors who will make a difference
Working together to deliver doctors who will make a difference
The Collaboration Agreement between the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association (AIDA) and the Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand (Medical Deans) continues to deliver real outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health today with the biannual Indigenous Knowledge Initiative being held in Sydney.
“The initiative recognises the journey of learning that medical schools undertake to acknowledge the value and significance of Indigenous knowledge,” says AIDA president, Associate Professor Peter O’Mara. The day includes a visit by Medical Deans to the Aboriginal Medical Service Western Sydney (AMSWS), Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation Aboriginal Medical Service (TACAMS) and participating in an education session conducted by the Aboriginal Medical Services.
“The Indigenous Knowledge Initiative is one of the many joint ventures in the collaboration agreement between the two peak organisations, which is aimed at leading the way in realising the potential of Indigenous medical students as well as improving the capacity of non-Indigenous medical students to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“The partnership has been remarkably fruitful,” says Professor O’Mara, “the Medical Deans recognise that making a lasting impact is not simply about funding and infrastructure, but genuinely understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, lives, cultures and communities.”
Professor Justin Beilby, President of the Medical Deans – which comprises the Deans of Australia’s 18 university medical schools and the two New Zealand schools – says the initiative reflects Medical Deans’ very strong and sustained commitment to collaborate with AIDA to improve Indigenous Health.
“This is through not only the education and training in Indigenous Health of all medical students through the
medical curriculum but also in making sure that individual Deans, in their leadership roles, are equipped with the understanding and knowledge of the health issues of Indigenous Australians, and potential strategies that the Deans can influence to improve the health outcomes of Indigenous Australians.”
Professor O’Mara says: “Together we’re delivering future doctors who are absolutely committed to better health for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and are armed with the capabilities to achieve this.”
Contacts:
Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand – Justin Beilby: 0403 017 457
Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association – Jessica Jeeves: 0439 754 425
Deans contribute to health workforce reform
Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand is actively working to be part of the health workforce solution in parallel with ongoing national health reform.
Challenges facing student interns, the clinical academic workforce and the future demand for doctors will be on the agenda at the 2011 Medical Deans Annual Conference.
Also up for discussion will be how to best assess Australia’s medical graduates, and how to strengthen partnerships between Aboriginal medical services and universities, particularly through placing students into Indigenous health settings.
‘It is a dynamic time for universities and medical graduates alike,’ said Professor Justin Beilby, the President of Medical Deans. ‘A record number of medical graduates is coming through the university system, and the number of intern places has not kept pace, so there are now pressing issues about where they spend their first year post-university.’
Professor Beilby said another key issue for universities in Australia and New Zealand was clinical academic staff, who have been the cornerstone of medical student education for decades. ‘These practitioners are crucial to overall medical education and research at universities, yet we are finding it harder to recruit and retain these staff.’
Professor Beilby said training for students in Indigenous health was currently limited, and something Medical Deans was keen to expand. ‘Medical Deans wants to build on our links with our Indigenous partners to allow more student exposure to primary health care settings, as well as adding ‘value’ to service provision in these settings,’ Professor Beilby said. An important part of the conference is the biannual Indigenous Knowledge Initiative conducted in partnership with the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, which will engage all Deans in better understanding the health issues of Indigenous Australians in Greater Western Sydney, an area with the highest urban population of Indigenous Australians in Australia.
The conference is being hosted by the University of Western Sydney on 6-8 September 2011. It will include speakers from Health Workforce Australia, the Australian Government, New Zealand Government, Australian Indigenous Doctors Association, National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation, Australian Medical Council, Australian Learning and Teaching Council, National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Australian Medical Students Association and Medical Board of Australia.
Firm up medical numbers, urges new president
Australia’s medical schools are experiencing ‘a perfect storm’ of funding pressures, according to Professor Justin Beilby, the new President of Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand.
At the same time, a shortage of training places, challenges finding enough academic staff and uncertainty about the future
demand for doctors have put extra pressure on the country’s university medical schools.
‘Our analysis shows that Federal Government’s education funding covers only about half the cost of an actual medical degree, and this is simply unsustainable,’ he said.
Professor Beilby was today elected unopposed as President, heading the organisation that represents the Deans of Australia and New Zealand’s 20 Medical Schools.
He said Medical Deans was working closely with Health Workforce Australia in its review into future medical workforce needs.
‘Currently we are unclear about how many medical students we need to train for the future, so we are keen to see the results later this year of a comprehensive review by Health Workforce Australia, which will detail the workforce planning needs through to 2025 in its National Training Plan.’
Until this review was completed, there should be no new university medical schools or school expansions, Professor Beilby said.
‘There has been asignificant increase in the number of medical students in recent years, and it is essential we do not increase that number until we have a proper, detailed workforce plan,’ he said.
‘We also need to ensure there are sufficient funds and sufficient academic staff to educate the existing student cohort and maintain the very high standard we have set in Australia.’
Professor Beilby, who is the Executive Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Adelaide, reinforced the Medical Deans view that all graduates from Australia’s universities – including international medical students – should have access to an intern place. A one-year internship, usually in a hospital but increasingly in the community, is required before a graduate can practise medicine.
More information, Justin Beilby: (08) 8303 5193
Mary Solomon: 0400 339 820
Medicinal Values
Medical Deans President and Vice President have outlined the changing landscape in the funding of Medical Education in their opinion piece.
Submission to Higher Education Base Funding Review
The Medical Deans submission to the Higher Education Base Funding Review is strongly evidence-based and draws on a number of contemporary information sources to support the submission’s claims. There are two specific issues pertaining to medical education which are unlikely to be mirrored in other disciplines – the strong reliance of medical education on work integrated learning (or clinical placements as they are known in medicine) and the complexity of funding arrangements across two sectors: higher education and health. Both matters and their impact on base funding are dealt with in detail in the document.
