Australian Medical Association

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is the professional association for Australian doctors and medical students. The association does not regulate or certify doctors, a responsibility which lies with the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. The association's national headquarters are located in Barton, Australian Capital Territory, in addition to the offices of its branches in each of the states and territories in Australia.

Australian Medical Association
AbbreviationAMA
Motto"pro genere humano concordes" (all as one for mankind)
PredecessorBritish Medical Association
Formation1962
Typeprofessional association
Purposerepresenting medical doctors and students
Headquarters42 Macquarie Street, Barton, Australian Capital Territory
President
Dr Omar Khorshid
Vice President
Dr Chris Moy
SubsidiariesNSW Branch
QLD Branch
VIC Branch
SA Branch
WA Branch
TAS Branch
NT Branch
ACT Branch
Websiteama.com.au

Aims and objectives

The AMA has a range of representative and scientific committees. One of its stated aims is "leading the health policy debate by developing and promoting alternative policies to those government policies that the AMA considers poorly targeted or ill-informed; responding to issues in the health debate through the provision of a wide range of expert resources; and commissioning and conducting research on health issues.".[1]

Organisation structure

The AMA uses a representative structure involving state branches and committees to work with members to promote and protect the interests of doctors in Australia.

The mechanisms that allow this include:

  • working with governments to maintain and increase provision of world-class medical care to all Australians;
  • tracking and reporting government performance on health;
  • challenging government on policy that potentially harms the interests of patients;
  • providing a resonant and authoritative expert medical commentary on health issues;
  • responding to issues in the health debate through provision of a wide range of expert resources; and
  • commissioning and conducting research on health issues.

The AMA supports patient care by serving the medical profession across a broad range of services, including:

  • protecting the academic, professional and economic independence and the well-being of medical practitioners;
  • promoting and advancing ethical behaviour by the medical profession and protecting the integrity and independence of the doctor/patient relationship; and
  • preserving and protecting the political, legal and industrial interests of medical practitioners.

Engagement, Equity and Inclusion

The AMA with slightly fewer than 30,000 members is the second largest association of Australian doctors, behind the RACGP, but slightly bigger than the RACP.

The AMA represents slightly fewer than 30% of all Australian doctors, down from previous levels of 95% in 1962 and 50% in 1987.[2][3][4] The rate of membership amongst Australian GPs is lower than for other doctors, with approximately 6000 out of 45000 GPs being AMA members. Engagement of GPs by the AMA is lower than for the RACGP and ACRRM.[5] In 2020, the incoming AMA President Omar Khorshid claimed in an interview that the AMA could still advocate on behalf of all doctors, even though only 30% of doctors supported the AMA through membership.[6]

There are 15 officially recognised specialty medical Colleges in Australia. The AMA offers only the 11 largest out of the 15 representation on AMA Federal Council with the smaller Colleges currently ineligible for representation. The official Australian medical colleges that do not have representation within the AMA are Australasian College of Sport and Exercise Physicians, Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine, College of Intensive Care Medicine and the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.

The AMA offers an Indigenous Medical Scholarship.[7] It has called upon the Federal government to spend more on Indigenous Health in a number of areas.[8][9] However, the AMA lobbied against equitable time-tiered Medicare consultation rebates for different specialists,[10] which was proposed by the MBS Review Taskforce.[11] Inability to access equitable time-tiered MBS rebates for Sport & Exercise Medicine specialists under Medicare is an important issue for Indigenous Australians.[12][13] In 2020, the AMA President Tony Bartone criticized attendees at the Black Lives Matter rallies in Australia during the Coronavirus pandemic for attending a large gathering,[14] although AMA (WA) President Andrew Miller was supportive.[15]

The AMA formed an Equity, Inclusion and Diversity Committee (EIDC) in 2016,[16] which produced an anti-racism statement in 2018 . The AMA held a Gender Equity Summit in 2019 and set targets to improve female representation on AMA Boards and Committees, aiming for >=40%. The AMA has only had two female Presidents in its history. In early 2020, less than 20% of members on AMA Federal Council were female. After elections in mid-2020, this had increased to 27% of members on Federal council being female. In 2017, 42% of doctors were female in Australia.[17]

History
The entrance of the former BMA House located at 135-137 Macquarie Street Sydney, home to the New South Wales Branch of the BMA and then the AMA from 1930 to 1980.

The British Medical Association (BMA), founded in England in 1832 to promote both the study of medicine and protection of the medical profession, established branches in New South Wales, South Australia, Queensland and Victoria in 1879–80. The New South Wales branch, under its founding president Sir Arthur Renwick, replaced the earlier "Australian Medical Association" formed in Sydney by Dr William Bland in 1859.[18] The BMA Branches of the Australian states and territories formally merged into the Australian Medical Association in 1962.[19]

Presidents
  1. Cecil Colville (1962–1964)
  2. Sir Angus Murray (1964–1967)
  3. Clarence Rieger (1967–1970)
  4. Roderick Macdonald (1970–1972)
  5. Gavin Johnson (1972–1973)
  6. Sir Keith Jones (1973–1976)
  7. Rupert Magarey (1976–1979)
  8. Lionel Wilson (1979–1982)
  9. Lindsay Thompson (1982–1985)
  10. Trevor Pickering (1985–1988)
  11. Bryce Phillips (1998–1990)
  12. Bruce Shepherd (1990–1993)
  13. Brendan Nelson (1993–1995)
  14. David Weedon (1995–1996)
  15. Keith Woollard (1996–1998)
  16. David Brand (1998–2000)
  17. Kerryn Phelps (2000–2003)
  18. Bill Glasson (2003–2005)
  19. Mukesh Haikerwal (2005–2007)
  20. Rosanna Capolingua (2007–2009)
  21. Andrew Pesce (2009–2011)
  22. Steve Hambleton (2011–2014)
  23. Brian Owler (2014–2016)
  24. Michael Gannon (2016–2018)[20]
  25. Tony Bartone (2018–2020)
  26. Omar Khorshid (2020-present)[21]

Other personnel

Coat of arms
Coat of arms of Australian Medical Association
Notes
The arms of the Australian Medical Association, granted by the Kings of Arms (and supporters by Garter) on 10 June 1963 (Earl Marshal's warrant, 30 July 1962), consist of:[22]
Crest
On a Wreath Argent and Vert, a Kangaroo proper, holding between the fore paws a Sun in splendour Or.
Helm
Gules, doubled Argent.
Escutcheon
Argent, on a Cross formy throughout Gules, within a Bordure Ermine, a Rod of Aesculapius Or.
Supporters
On either side a Unicorn Argent, unguled armed and crined Or, supporting between the forelegs a Staff proper, flying thereon a Pennant per fess Argent and Vert charged with the Badge of the Australian Medical Association.
Motto
Pro Genere Humano Concordes

Positions

The AMA has traditionally been a conservative (rather than progressive) body, often opposing change rather than lobbying for change within medicine. For example, the AMA released a press release in early 2019 claiming an "Advocacy breakthrough" which in fact was to "oppose changes" being considered under a wide-ranging review of the Medicare Benefits Schedule.[23] Historically the AMA has tended to oppose "government interference in the practice of medicine" advocating on behalf of the service-providers (doctors) rather than the consumers (patients).

Climate change

The AMA acknowledges the scientific consensus that climate change is real and anthropogenic.[24] In September 2019, the AMA officially declared climate change a public health emergency, stating that "The scientific reality is that climate change affects health and wellbeing by increasing the situations in which infectious diseases can be transmitted, and through more extreme weather events, particularly heatwaves."[25]

Dr Tony Bartone, AMA President, noted that climate change will cause "higher mortality and morbidity from heat stress; injury and mortality from increasingly severe weather events; increases in the transmission of vector-borne diseases; food insecurity resulting from declines in agricultural outputs; a higher incidence of mental-ill health".[25]

The AMA has called on the Australian Government to:

  • Adopt mitigation targets within an Australian carbon budget
  • Promote the health benefits of addressing climate change
  • Develop a National Strategy for Health and Climate Change
  • Promote an active transition from fossil fuels to renewable energy
  • Establish a National Sustainable Development Unit to reduce carbon emissions in the healthcare sector.[25]

Community pill-testing

The AMA officially endorses trials to use pill-testing at community events such as festivals.[26][27] AMA President, Dr Tony Bartone publicly declared his support for pill-testing at festivals, stating that it would provide "an opportunity to try and inform [drug users] about the dangerous consequences and try to get an opportunity to give them education and access to rehabilitation in terms of trying to reduce their drug dependency."[27] NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian and Federal Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton rejected the AMA's call for pill testing.[27]

See also

References
  1. "About the AMA - Advocacy". Australian Medical Association. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  2. Coote, Bill (30 April 2018). "How low can the AMA go? • The Medical Republic". The Medical Republic 30 Apr 2018. Medical Republic. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  3. Glauser, Wendy (8 January 2018). "Some medical associations see modest growth despite challenges". CMAJ : Canadian Medical Association Journal. 190 (1): E32–E33. doi:10.1503/cmaj.109-5530. ISSN 0820-3946. PMC 5760264. PMID 29311108.
  4. Duckett, Stephen. "Patient advocate or doctors' union? How the AMA flexes its political muscle - Grattan Institute". grattan.edu.au.
  5. Knibbs, Jeremy (6 June 2020). "RACGP, ACRRM and AMA all facing survival inflection points • The Medical Republic". The Medical Republic. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  6. O'Rourke, Geir (18 August 2020). "Is the AMA wobbling? Its new president responds". AusDoc.PLUS. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  7. "AMA Indigenous Medical Scholarship". indigenousscholarship.ama.com.au. AMA.
  8. "AMA Submission to the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO) Performance Audit on Closing the Gap in Indigenous Disadvantage". Australian Medical Association. AMA. 21 May 2019. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  9. "AMA calls for greater investment in Indigenous health". Australian Medical Association. AMA. 18 June 2020.
  10. "AMA submission to the MBS Review Taskforce" (PDF). ama.com.au. AMA. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  11. "Report from the Specialist and Consultant Physician Consultation Clinical Committee" (PDF). MBS Review Taskforce. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  12. Luies, Nathan (28 April 2020). "Sports and exercise medicine helps manage chronic disease. It needs better funding | Nathan Luies for IndigenousX". The Guardian.
  13. Masters, Roy (24 January 2020). "Australian of the Year nominee highlights forgotten cut to Medicare". The Sydney Morning Herald.
  14. "AMA President speaks on BLM protests". The Age.
  15. "'Leading by example': AMA commends Perth BLM protesters". The West Australian. 9 June 2020.
  16. "AMA acts to promote diversity and inclusion". Australian Medical Association. 12 December 2016. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  17. Aubusson, Kate (22 July 2017). "Female GPs outnumber male GPs for the first time in Australia". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 20 August 2020.
  18. "BMA House". New South Wales State Heritage Register. Office of Environment and Heritage. H00252. Retrieved 13 October 2018.
  19. "About the AMA - History". Australian Medical Association. Archived from the original on 3 July 2014. Retrieved 12 August 2014.
  20. AMA (29 May 2016). "Dr Michael Gannon elected as new AMA President".
  21. Health, Australian Government Department of (3 August 2020). "New AMA leadership team elected at 2020 AMA National Conference". Australian Government Department of Health.
  22. Low, Charles (1971). A Roll of Australian Arms. Adelaide: Rigby Limited. p. 7. ISBN 0-85179-149-2. OCLC 246821.
  23. "AMA advocacy breakthroughs in MBS Review". Australian Medical Association. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 19 August 2020.
  24. "Climate Change and Human Health - 2004. Revised 2008. Revised 2015". Australian Medical Association. 28 August 2015. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  25. "Climate change is a health emergency". Australian Medical Association. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  26. "AMA FORMALLY BACKS SUPERVISED PILL TESTING TRIALS". Australian Medical Association. 22 March 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.
  27. "AMA backs pill testing at festivals". Australian Medical Association. 10 January 2019. Retrieved 11 October 2019.

Further reading
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