twrama 1841_august_2.. - AMA WA

OPINION
Ticked off
by Dr Cassandra Host
Co-chair, Doctors in Training Committee
The deadline has passed. Job applications for 2013 have
closed. I hope all of you remembered to submit your
application on time.
There are many tasks required to complete the desired format:
1. Working with Children Check (WWCC) – good, found
that. Still scanned on file from last year, not expired yet.
2. Police Clearance – sigh, not again! Another $65. Will they
accept the one from last year? It is not like I am changing
employer.
3. Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
(AHPRA) registration – can’t they just Google it these days?
4. Certificate of Graduation – oh, that one is not required anymore.
5. Does all this stuff need certifying?
6. CV – that’s easy, update and…done!
7. Referees – I hope they reply if requested.
8. Selection criteria – teamwork, check. PPD, check. Teaching
skills, check.
This is an awful lot of effort to keep the same job I am already
doing. Bring back the good old days; your contract for next
year was “opt out” and not enthusiastically, “opt in and we’ll
think about it”.
Now I know I sound like a grumpy old woman when I refer
to the past, but this time every year, a letter would magically
appear in my letterbox – yes, when they would actually post
important correspondence to your house and not drop it on
the paper mountain in the common room.
That letter had a few tick-a-box preferences asking me if I
wanted to continue working at the hospital and then if I was
interested in taking an RMO, Service Registrar or Registrar
position. I would select a box or two and a few months later, a
contract would arrive by post. It was generally assumed that
I would return a signed offer of acceptance, but if I forgot
to reply, a nice lady from HR would call just to check that I
would be returning in the new year. Not anymore.
As a result of increased numbers of JMOs, there is now
the perceived threat that someone might miss out. Other
than interns and RMOs who have a centralised application
process, each Registrar (some organised training programs
excepted) has to apply to each hospital and individual job titles
separately. Spare a thought for the physician’s trainees who
had to complete both service registrar and registrar application
forms, planning for both failure and success in their exams.
Even departments that have tapped individuals on the
shoulder and specifically asked them to return next year
cannot guarantee the candidate will have a job until all
applications have been considered.
The result – many DiTs applying for several jobs at several
services to increase their chances of getting a job. This, quite
possibly, might be the reason why this year there are often
more than 50 applicants for the same job. Realistically, most,
if not all of these doctors will have applied somewhere else,
clearly only intending to accept one offer, with the others just
as back-up. This can create problems for departments that are
trying to secure adequate staffing for the next year, as doctors
can pick and choose or wait until all offers are in before
making a late final decision on a workplace.
Maybe I have just lived a sheltered life and this is how
the real world works. But it does seem a lot of effort goes
into reapplying each year for both applicants and medical
administrations alike.
Given the length of duration of training and therefore,
virtual guarantee of a return to the workplace in the future, it
would be nice if we could have the option of longer contracts
so we did not have to go through this process year after year.
This would also engender a culture of loyalty to our
chosen health service and “mother-ship” hospitals. But in
the meantime, we will all continue to do that last-minute
scramble to submit our applications before the deadline.
Laborious: Each Registrar (some organised training programs excepted)
has to apply to each hospital and individual job titles separately.
The AMA (WA) has written to the Director General and
continues to advocate that WA Health should use the provisions
contained within the Industrial Agreement where Health Services
can offer DiTs who are in accredited training programs a
contract for the length of time expected to conclude the training
program. The AMA (WA) has pointed out the ludicrous, costly
and inefficient process for practitioners having to apply each
year. The Department has, to date, failed in its duty to properly
consider cost-effective administrative practices. The AMA (WA)
is not prepared to leave the issue there and continues to pursue the
Department for a sensible solution.
20 MEDICUS August