Not enough internships for medical graduates (ABC RN) - 23/7/12 (2 Viewers)

[OzKo]

TONY EASTLEY: After six years of study and exams medical students around the country will today begin receiving their first round offers for internships.

But it's emerged that there aren't enough training positions available to meet a record number of graduates.


This year more than 3,500 students will graduate from medicine. That's an increase of more than 500 from last year.


An article in today's Medical Journal of Australia says a new approach to medical training is needed so that medical graduates can take the next step towards becoming a doctor.


Lindy Kerin reports.


LINDY KERIN: It's a big day for many of the country's medical students. It's the first round of offers for internships at public hospitals.


But Monash University associate professor Catherine Joyce says there's simply not enough positions available.


CATHERINE JOYCE: The number of graduates from Australian universities has basically doubled since the year 2000 and we're expecting a increase of a further 50 per cent in that number by 2016.


So what we're seeing is a very rapid increase in the number of medical graduates and the number of internship places available is just not matching that.


LINDY KERIN: In today's Medical Journal of Australia associate professor Joyce says the approach to medical training must change.


CATHERINE JOYCE: The solution that we need to explore is a wider range of settings in which these internships take place.


Now that would include private hospitals. It might include smaller hospitals in regional or rural areas. It might also include some private practice settings such as general practice clinics.


LINDY KERIN: That's an idea welcomed by Catholic Health Australia which provides 10 per cent of the country's hospital beds.


Martin Laverty is the chief executive.


MARTIN LAVERTY: Well the Catholic hospital network runs public hospitals today who have decades of experience in training young doctors.


What we're now saying is that catholic private hospitals also might have the capacity, if governments are able to enter into partnerships to speed up the accreditation of private hospitals so that they can provide medical internships, to guarantee that the funding will be in place for medical internships to be provided.


LINDY KERIN: The AMA's national president Dr Steve Hambleton says the shortfall in training positions for graduates is concerning.


STEVE HAMBLETON: Here we are in 2012/ 2013 with an excess of students that we can't train. It makes no sense. We must train people who've gone through our universities and give them the opportunity to stay here because we've got a significant shortage of doctors that we need to deal with now.


LINDY KERIN: The Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council's chair Kim Snowball says the shortfall won't be known until August when each state has completed its final round of offers.


He says the council is working hard to make sure all students get an internship. But he says it will be difficult to guarantee spots for international and domestic fee paying students.


KIM SNOWBALL: We do our best to try and accommodate them within our Australian hospitals. But of course this is on top of significant growth in the number of graduates through our Australian medical schools. So we're trying to cope with two things at the same time here and trying to do our best over the next month or so.


LINDY KERIN: Kim Snowball says once the shortfall is known the Commonwealth and State Governments will move quickly to expand the number of intern places.


TONY EASTLEY: Lindy Kerin.

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2012/s3550909.htm

 

[lvella10]

Nice post! Definitely gives us future med kids something to think about, considering some of the diabolical health decisions made in this country

 

[Parvee]

Unlucky Mirakon

 

[mirakon]

Unlucky Mirakon

Aw shhhhhhiiiiiieeeeeettt

But on a srs note, this might end up costing a lot of international students if they end up prioritising domestic students for the internship positions

 

[Dr_Fresh]

internationals are already getting fked over.

http://www.amsa.org.au/internship-crisis

 

[RookieLaw]

Doesn't really come as a surprise tho, medicine in maybe a decade will follow law, pharmacy and etc.

Soon there will be more medical schools, meaning more medical students being pumped out per year without anywhere to gain an internship.

 

[lvella10]

Pharmacy students are already screwed from what I've heard

 

[Dr_Fresh]

Doesn't really come as a surprise tho, medicine in maybe a decade will follow law, pharmacy and etc.

Soon there will be more medical schools, meaning more medical students being pumped out per year without anywhere to gain an internship.

not really, this is about as bad as the problem will get as all the new medical schools established within the last decade are already producing graduates and no new ones about to open anytime soon.
the problem now is that specialities will be much more competitive due to the large increase in JMOs with no increase in speciality training spots.

 

[soloooooo]

The solution is simple. Australian students first. International students last or not at all.

They (international students) can either return to their home country and work there or they can pay an extravagant sum to complete an internship in a private hospital.

 

[starshine02]

just wondering but what happens to those who don't end up getting an internship? do they just have to waste a year and reapply the next?

 

[Dr_Fresh]

local students never miss out. the international students take the hit and usually end up going back to their own country (singapore or malaysia) to practice.

 

[Sanical]

I guess they're probably gonna have even less spots available + harder requirements.

But I've heard there are many older doctors retiring since most of them migrated here and now are at the age of retirement.