Pommy Doctors?
Oct 1st 2002, 4:34 am
#1
Banned
Thread Starter
Joined: Aug 2002
Location: Perth Arse end of the planet
Posts: 7,037
Pommy Doctors?
Hope this is not one of you lot?
Failed doctors work on
By Nick Miller
MELBOURNE
DOCTORS who have trained overseas are working in WA hospitals and surgeries while still studying for, or even failing, official tests of medical knowledge and ability.
A new study found that the quality of medical care may be suffering as a result.
The Health Department has confirmed WA is in the same position as Victoria, whose health system's increasing reliance on "conditional registrants" has been criticised in a Monash University report on the study.
An increasing number of overseas trained doctors were being put to work before passing accreditation tests, the report said.
The conditional registrants were put into general and hospital practices where there was a critical shortage of locally trained or accredited doctors.
"The increased reliance on conditional registrants is an embarrassment to the medical profession," the report said.
"It is well known, worried about, yet rarely admitted because of its troubling implications for the quality of medical care."
Overseas trained doctors must pass a series of tests of basic English language skills, medical knowledge and clinical skills before being granted registration by the State medical board. Between a third and half of applicants fail the tests the first time. However, applicants who have not passed the tests can be given conditional registration to practise in order to fill areas short of medical staff, typically in regional Australia or as junior staff in public hospitals.
Report author Bob Birrell, from the Monash University centre for population and urban research, said many overseas trained doctors were left on their own and most of thosein hospitals were in emergency departments.
"They're serving in the front line of Australian medicine here, but have not yet completed their accreditation to minimum Australian standards," Dr Birrell said.
In 2000-01, the WA Government sponsored more than 450 overseas trained doctors from the temporary resident migrant program, the report said.
WA's chief medical officer, Dr Brian Lloyd, confirmed that conditional registrants were being used in WA hospitals to fill short-staffed areas. Hospitals interviewed the conditional registrants to evaluate their language and clinical skills, he said.
"If people are not so proficient they require increased supervision and close monitoring," he said. "It puts an increased load on those doing the supervising and there may be times when perhaps (the supervision) is not as complete as it should be."
Australian Medical Association WA president Bernard Pearn-Rowe said WA was far more dependent on overseas trained doctors than other States.
"But it's better than having a big hole in the roster," he said. "All the OTDs I have encountered in WA come up to the highest standards of professionalism and ability."
Failed doctors work on
By Nick Miller
MELBOURNE
DOCTORS who have trained overseas are working in WA hospitals and surgeries while still studying for, or even failing, official tests of medical knowledge and ability.
A new study found that the quality of medical care may be suffering as a result.
The Health Department has confirmed WA is in the same position as Victoria, whose health system's increasing reliance on "conditional registrants" has been criticised in a Monash University report on the study.
An increasing number of overseas trained doctors were being put to work before passing accreditation tests, the report said.
The conditional registrants were put into general and hospital practices where there was a critical shortage of locally trained or accredited doctors.
"The increased reliance on conditional registrants is an embarrassment to the medical profession," the report said.
"It is well known, worried about, yet rarely admitted because of its troubling implications for the quality of medical care."
Overseas trained doctors must pass a series of tests of basic English language skills, medical knowledge and clinical skills before being granted registration by the State medical board. Between a third and half of applicants fail the tests the first time. However, applicants who have not passed the tests can be given conditional registration to practise in order to fill areas short of medical staff, typically in regional Australia or as junior staff in public hospitals.
Report author Bob Birrell, from the Monash University centre for population and urban research, said many overseas trained doctors were left on their own and most of thosein hospitals were in emergency departments.
"They're serving in the front line of Australian medicine here, but have not yet completed their accreditation to minimum Australian standards," Dr Birrell said.
In 2000-01, the WA Government sponsored more than 450 overseas trained doctors from the temporary resident migrant program, the report said.
WA's chief medical officer, Dr Brian Lloyd, confirmed that conditional registrants were being used in WA hospitals to fill short-staffed areas. Hospitals interviewed the conditional registrants to evaluate their language and clinical skills, he said.
"If people are not so proficient they require increased supervision and close monitoring," he said. "It puts an increased load on those doing the supervising and there may be times when perhaps (the supervision) is not as complete as it should be."
Australian Medical Association WA president Bernard Pearn-Rowe said WA was far more dependent on overseas trained doctors than other States.
"But it's better than having a big hole in the roster," he said. "All the OTDs I have encountered in WA come up to the highest standards of professionalism and ability."
