Medical Education and Training Issues- NEWS

06.10.06

Deans agree quality will be sacrificed for quantity
The standard of our future doctors and their capacity to provide quality care to patients is in jeopardy because training resources are inadequate, the heads of Australia’s 18 medical schools warn.

(Medical Observer, 6 October 2006)

30.09.06

Initial supervision, assessment crucial for overseas doctors

DURING the recent inquiry on skills recognition by the federal parliament, evidence was presented to the Migration Committee reflecting concerns about the lack of proper assessment of overseas-trained doctors, and of surgeons in particular. Source: The Australian 30.09.06.

22.09.06

Unqualified medicos working in Australia

HUNDREDS of doctors, international medical students and overseas-trained specialists are working in Australia without undergoing any formal evaluation of their skills.

Ian Frank, chief executive of the Australian Medical Council, which assesses overseas-trained doctors, warned that hospitals were skipping the review process and employing doctors before they were properly assessed.

Mr Frank estimated local medical boards had fast-tracked the approval of up to 500 overseas specialists in areas of need. He warned that a failure to comply with assessment guidelines had allowed Jayant Patel, the disgraced surgeon who is facing charges over 17 deaths, to be employed and work unsupervised at Bundaberg hospital.

Full story: (Australian, 22 September 2006)

02.09.06

States win control of surgeons
Trainee surgeon numbers are expected to rise after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said it would strip control from the country's surgeons and hand it to state and federal governments. (The Age, 2 September 2006)
[Royal Australasian College of Surgeons - ACCC Initiated Revocation & Substitution - A90765]

Med training funds 'are being diverted'
Medical schools have accused the states of diverting money meant to fund clinical training of medical students into general hospital coffers. (Australian, 2 September 2006)

01.09.06

Boost for medico training
University funding systems will be reviewed in response to claims that physiotherapists, nurses and other health professionals are not receiving adequate clinical training. (Australian, 1 September 2006)

16.08.06

Choosing Your Words Carefully: How Physicians Would Disclose Harmful Medical Errors to Patients
Thomas H. Gallagher; Jane M. Garbutt; Amy D. Waterman; David R. Flum; Eric B. Larson; Brian M. Waterman; W. Claiborne Dunagan; Victoria J. Fraser; Wendy Levinson
Arch Intern Med 2006 166: 1585-1593 [Abstract]

26.07.06

Key to cutting medical errors

IN May, the The Australian reported that "senior doctors claim teaching hours for anatomy have been slashed by 80 per cent in some medical schools to make way for touchy-feely subjects such as cultural sensitivity, communication and ethics". The report stated that the Australian Doctors Fund had lodged a 70-page submission with the federal Department of Education, Science and Training "listing arguments from more than two dozen professors, consultants and medical academics for a rethink on medical education".

Although a reassessment of anatomy and other basic science teaching may well be valuable, it will be regrettable if this leads to a down-grading of education in effective communication for future doctors. Research evidence points less often to a lack of knowledge of anatomy among doctors than to poor management and communication as the causes of medical errors.

McCarthy and Blumenthal refer to research into medical errors that shows failed communication among professionals and low-quality teamwork are prime culprits that must be addressed in changing to what they term a safety culture.

Pre-operative briefing of the entire surgical team ahead of major operations promoted patient safety in experiments done by the Kaiser Permanente healthcare group in the US. Morale improved noticeably among staff and surgical errors and near-misses were reduced.

The published research on reducing medical error is dominated by evidence that nothing works as well as communication about intentions and risks among a therapeutic team led by an individual who understands risk and discusses this with all parties who have a material interest in, and capacity to influence, the outcome for the patient. This extends to the patient and their carer.

Communication skills are vital for the future practice of safe medicine in this country to an extent that may astonish some but which is well-known beyond the halls of medicine in every industry and business that has a concern about safety and quality.

See full article by : Stephen Leeder (Australian, 26 July 2006)

Stephen Leeder is director of the Australian Health Policy Institute at the University of Sydney and co-director of the Menzies Centre for Health Policy.

[Australian DoctorsFund:Submission on Australian Medical Education]

12.07.06

HUNDREDS of university places will be offered to train more doctors with a proviso that the states must improve clinical training to ensure patient safety.

Amid warnings the teaching of basic anatomy is inadequate and doctors lack on-the-job training, John Howard plans to get tough with the states at the Council of Australian Governments meeting on Friday.

Federal cabinet yesterday signed off on a package to offer the states hundreds of new university places to tackle the medical workforce shortage, but the new funding will come with strings attached.

The Prime Minister will ask the states to offer more clinical training places to allow doctors to train at public hospitals with real patients rather than plastic dummies.

Source: The Australian 12.07.06.

05.07.06

Trainee doctors need proper clinical training

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is warning the nation could be faced with inadequately trained doctors in the future because of a lack of clinical expertise.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/newsitems/200607/s1678859.htm

01.06.06

Medical faculty accused of bias

A FORMER deputy chancellor of Adelaide University has accused the medical faculty of unwritten discrimination against private school students and doctors' children during the selection process for incoming medical students.

See article by Verity Edwards http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19324106-2702,00.html

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