News & Resources
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
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
Deans welcome funding agreement
Australia’s peak medical university body has welcomed the agreement reached last Sunday by COAG on national health reforms.
‘We are particularly pleased that teaching, training and research have been included in the heads of agreement,’ said Professor James Angus, the President of Medical Deans, which represents Australia’s 18 medical schools.
‘Medical Deans is keen to contribute to the detailed discussions of how this funding will operate, and how it will flow into the continuum of medical education, from universities to specialist training,’ Professor Angus said.
Professor Angus said the teaching, training and research funding was also the key to supporting the development of Advanced Health Research Centres, which are integral to driving the quality of care and translation of research.
More information, James Angus, 02 9114 1673
MJA article on conflict of interest – a response
6 February 2011
The issues raised by the MJA article are important and all universities strive to ensure the right balance on
how staff and students engage with the industry.
Much of this is achieved relying on the guidelines set both by Industry and Medical Colleges, as well as individual University-wide policies on conflict of interest.
A lot of work has been done on conflict-of-interest issues across many universities in the past 18 months, for example at Melbourne
University, where a policy framework will be completed this year that will cover all our Health Professional courses, students and staff.
While this issue is the domain of individual universities, Medical Deans will continue to examine whether there is a need for best-practice guidelines that can be adopted across all Australian universities.
Professor James Angus
President, Medical Deans
(Dean, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences,
Melbourne University)
More information: James Angus, 02 9114 1673
Action on Medical Training: Joint Statement
Key organisations call for the establishment of a Medical Workforce Planning Advisory Committee to oversee research for medical workforce planning, in order to improve planning and coordination throughout the medical education continuum. Please click here to view the full joint statement.
No new schools before 2014, say Deans
Medical Deans Australia and Zealand does not support the creation of new medical schools or any significant increase in medical student numbers in Australia until the health system is strengthened to adequately train the current boom in medical students.
‘Currently, we do not have the resources in places to ensure that all current medical students will have the vocational training to become fully qualified practising doctors,’ said Acting President, Professor Michael Hensley.
‘We are undergoing a boom in student numbers, but there are not enough clinical training places, and not enough internships and vocational training places for those students who graduate.’
Medical student clinical training places, usually in hospitals and primary care, allow students to learn the vital practical aspects of medicine that accompanies their academic study.
Once students graduate, they need to spend one year in a hospital internship in order to have a basic registration as a doctor but they need a further 4 to 8 years in hospitals and primary care to
complete their training in order to work as General practitioners and specialists.
‘Before we consider adding new schools or more students, we need Australia’s health system to be able to accommodate the current growth which reaches its peak in graduates in 2014 but not in the need
for vocational training places until 2020, Professor Hensley said.
Australia’s medical schools are currently undergoing significant growth, with student numbers growing strongly.
In 2006, Australia had 1,335 medical graduates, not including international students; this number is set to jump to 3,108 in 2014, as new medical schools come on line and increased numbers at established schools move through their programs.
More information: Michael Hensley, 0408 979 030
Keep medical student numbers on hold
The Federal Government must not increase the number of medical student places for at least two years (more…)
