Valuing The Contribution Of Our Overseas Doctors, The Royal Australian College Of General Practitioners
July 20th, 2008 | by admin |In response to recent tabloid media coverage on the standards of qualifications held by overseas trained doctors and the quality of care offered by these doctors, the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is calling for all international medical graduates to be supported to achieve the gold standard qualification for unsupervised Australian general practice, the Fellowship of the RACGP.
“Our communities in rural and regional Australia are well serviced by our overseas trained doctors, at a time when Australia faces a major medical workforce shortage. These doctors make a wonderful commitment to our health system and our patients,” said Dr Vasantha Preetham, RACGP President and Perth-based GP. Dr Preetham originally trained in India.
“We should celebrate their contribution, just as we should recognise the contribution of all GPs. Many of these doctors work in remote and rural locations and their communities welcome and value this commitment.
“The RACGP has long argued that Australia should train enough of its own doctors to meet the demands of our growing and ageing population; we were strongly opposed to the Australian Government’s decision to cut training places in the 1990s correctly arguing that the impact of doctor shortages would be felt when the ‘baby boomer’ generation of GPs decided to retire.
“Australia’s health care needs are best met by training sufficient numbers of our own graduates to service local needs,” said Dr Preetham.
The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) is responsible for maintaining standards for quality clinical practice, education and training, and research in Australian general practice. The RACGP has the largest general practitioner membership of any medical organisation in Australia and represents the majority of Australia’s general practitioners.
www.racgp.org.au
RACGP 51st Annual Scientific Convention
combined with the Wonca Asia Pacific Regional Conference
2-5 October 2008
Melbourne, Australia
http://www.wonca2008.com
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