Australian Medical Students' Association Welcomes COAG's Investment Into Training The Future Australian Health Workforce

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 29 Nov 2008 - 18:00 PST

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The Federal Government today announced a $1.1 billion health workforce package to be used to fund undergraduate clinical training in public and private hospitals and community settings, train and support clinical training supervisors, and build capital infrastructure including 45 new simulated learning centres.

The funding will also be used for the creation of a national health workforce agency to assist with workforce planning and improve coordination of clinical training across the country.

AMSA National President Michael Bonning said that the package recognised education as a cornerstone of the Australian health system, and was an important step towards ensuring a permanent solution to Australia's medical workforce shortage.

"The number of medical, nursing and allied health students in Australia has increased significantly over the last decade," Mr Bonning said.

"Training future doctors is not an economy of scale. For every increase in medical student numbers there must be a commensurate increase in medical school funding, the number of training positions available for junior doctors and the number of senior staff available to train them.

"This package capitalises on the recent increase in medical, nursing and allied health student numbers, and will ensure these students receive this highest quality training available," Mr Bonning said.

"Furthermore, we hope the creation of a national health workforce agency will facilitate responsible future growth in the health workforce while ensuring maintenance of Australia's high education and training standards," he said.

The Federal Government is laying the foundations for a long-term solution to address the health workforce shortage, but AMSA warned that this investment should not be redirected by states.

"Training the health workforce is a shared Commonwealth-State responsibility and we call on the State governments to match this targeted investment in clinical training," Mr Bonning said.

Australian Medical Students' Association