Covid-19 Reforms

Effecting Reforms To Australia’s Specialist Medical Training and
Accreditation System Post Covid-19

Key message:

  • COVID 19 has affected Australian medical education and accreditation activities through its impact on health services and systems, clinicians, and medical education providers.
  • The AMC is involved in a partnership to identify and review the impact of COVID 19 on Australian specialist medical training.
  • The project will generate invaluable knowledge regarding specialist medical education and training, including challenges and innovations during the COVID-19 pandemic, which can further inform the National Medical Workforce Strategy.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made us rethink the way we live and has broadly affected health. There have been global disruptions to health systems, health care provision and the spectrum of medical education. The Australian Medical Council has partnered with the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges to deliver a project for the Health Workforce Division of the Australian Government Department of Health to consider the impact of COVID-19 on Australian specialist medical training.

The project entails separate and collaborative work by the AMC and the CPMC. The CPMC’s work is described on its website. The project links to and builds on the AMC’s work as the accreditation authority for medicine under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law. The AMC’s work focusses on review and analysis of its accreditation findings before and during the COVID pandemic, and on providing resources to support innovation and good practice in assessment. Areas of AMC analysis and review include:

  • Changes in assessment in specialist medical programs and opportunities for systems improvement.
  • Barriers to and enablers of equitable access to learning opportunities and resources, and policies that support recognition and accreditation of learning.

Download the AMC Report: Changes in Assessment in Specialist Medical Programs Published November 2021.

Download the AMC Report: Barriers and Enablers of Equitable Access to Learning and Training in Specialist Medical Programs in Australia Published November 2021.

The AMC also built a website to showcase resources and support related to contemporary models of assessment in medical education.
For more information click here.

For more information about the AMC’s work contact:specaccred@amc.org.au