Queensland Home Of Student Leaders In 2008, Australia

Main Category: Medical Students / Training
Article Date: 31 Jan 2008 - 2:00 PDT

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The Australian Medical Students' Association (AMSA) will be led by an executive of students from three Queensland medical schools in 2008.

The team is headed by president Michael Bonning, a final year student at the University of Queensland. Mr Bonning said the team is looking forward to furthering AMSA's advocacy agenda, building on the work undertaken by the 2007 Melbourne-based executive.

"We will continue to work towards improving the size and calibre of the rural workforce by providing students with opportunities and incentive to choose a career in rural medicine", Mr Bonning said.

"Similarly, AMSA plans to work towards better Indigenous health outcomes by contributing to the training of passionate and highly skilled rural doctors.

"We look forward to working with the new government as they undertake the process of removing domestic undergraduate full fee paying places from universities Australia wide, and ensuring that medical schools are adequately compensated for the loss of revenue this incurs", he said.

An ongoing threat to the quality of medical students' education in Australia is the increase in student numbers.

"Queensland is at the forefront of finding solutions to this problem, and AMSA will work towards applying these solutions Australia-wide to uphold our nation's tradition of producing high quality medical graduates", said Mr Bonning.

This year the executive also plans to continue advocating for students on issues including bonded medical places, task delegation, early streaming and securing quality clinical placements for students and junior doctors.

AMSA has an active community arm that undertakes an annual National Charity Drive and a Blood Drive run in conjunction with the Australian Red Cross.

AMSA is also host of the largest annual medical student conference in the Southern hemisphere, to be held in Melbourne in July.

Australian Medical Students' Association