Medical Students Can’t Learn Without Teachers: AMSA

The Australian Medical Students’ Association acknowledges the Australian Medical Association’s call for action concerning the difficulties that doctors face in maintaining involvement in teaching and research activities.

“The clinical training programs in Australia are integral to ensuring we continue to produce world class doctors. Unfortunately due to constraints in time and resources, doctors are struggling to help provide this training to medical students,” said President Tiffany Fulde.

With medical student numbers doubling from 2005 levels by 2011, the demand for doctors to teach is only going to increase.

“It is essential that we implement strategies to address this problem now to ensure that medical students receive quality clinical teaching before they graduate as doctors,” said Tiffany Fulde.

AMSA believes the problem must be tackled at a number of levels to increase teaching capacity and support, as well as increasing teaching resources and facilities.

Recognising the time clinicians spend teaching by providing quarantined time and provider activity payments will relieve some of the constraints currently preventing or deterring doctors from assisting in training.

Additionally, high-technology simulation to aid with procedural skills training and ensuring access to well designed and resourced teaching spaces at clinical sites would be of great assistance.

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With federal money available to improve clinical training for students across all health professions from next year, there is a great need to make sure the money goes toward supporting teaching doctors and clinical teaching facilities. Only by continually looking at how to provide the best medical training will Australia ensure that our doctors are of the highest standard.

Source-AMSA
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