Hi everyone,

I am Danika, one of Monash Health’s Emergency Registrars and a Monash Doctor since internship. From next week I take over as the Chair of AMA Council of Doctors-in-Training and have been asked to write a little about it.

I have been involved with the AMA since medical school and have been the President of the AMA Victoria Doctors-in-Training (DiT) Subdivision for the past year. As part of this role I got to represent all of you and listen to the concerns and the triumphs that come with being a Victorian DiT. From next week I take over as the Chair of the AMA Council of Doctors-in-Training and have the honour of representing DiTs nation-wide.

Most people look at me blankly when I talk about AMA Victoria and AMA as different things. The AMA is made up of 8 state and territory AMA’s who represent doctors at the ground level. These state-based AMA’s are responsible for the industrial conditions in their respective states, advocating for state-level funding and advocating for their public health systems. These all join forces and form ‘The AMA’ who represent all of us federally on issues such as medical training, health funding and large public health issues (Ebola anyone?). The Council of Doctors-in-Training is a sub-council of AMA and work represent all DiTs in Australia. What is a Doctor-in-Training? You are! As well as every intern, resident, registrar and fellow that you work with.

Our job is to look at the way DiTs are represented in the health system and ensure that we are getting the best training experience possible. We work with the state AMA’s to determine the concerns that all of you have and meet with government bodies, training colleges and political masterminds to advocate for and represent DiTs on a national scale. We spend time on internships (are they working?), vocational training (how can we make it better?), medical education (does it ever stop?), workforce planning (because we really need jobs at the end of all this) and how we all fit in to our health system.

My first job when I take over next week is to meet with the Department of Health in Canberra and explain just what the ‘training crisis’ is and why we need it fixed. The medical environment has changed and with more junior doctors, restrictions on vocational training and an uncertain public health landscape, it is up to those of us experiencing these issues to make sure they are being talked about.

I am excited to take over the role and can’t wait to represent all of you. We are lucky at Monash Health to work in a supportive and encouraging environment and I want to make sure that your entire training career is spent the same way. If you are interested in any of this come and speak to me, I am always happy to talk about training and I need to hear from you so I know what I need to take to the table.

Good luck for 2015!