The AMA National Conference (Nat Con) is a great opportunity collaborate, learn and network. The Prime Minister will speak on Saturday morning 31 July 2021 about the Australian Government's response to COVID-19 and he will also respond to AMA calls for public hospital funding reforms. And remember, for your attendance to be eligible for CPD, you must be registered.
The packed program includes a session posing the question: Are doctors still risking their lives for their patients?
Doctors were once willing - and expected - to put their lives on the line to care for their patients, but do the younger generation of doctors adhere to this ethos? This year's Nat Con asks has there been a cultural shift within the profession?
The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the medical profession globally, and doctors individually, to consider what risk to their own lives, and their family's they are willing to take when treating real or potential COVID-19 patients.
As the Ethics and Medico-Legal Committee updates the AMA policy on ethical considerations for medical practitioners in disaster response, the issue of ethical duties and acceptable personal risk of harm is at the forefront of discussions.
This policy session will examine a range of ethical issues related to doctors' risk of personal harm in disaster situations. Who decides what level of risk is 'acceptable'? And 'acceptable' to whom - the profession, the community, employers? How should doctors who do not accept such a risk be treated? And how should the community reciprocate in supporting the medical profession?
This session, will present varying views on the extent of a doctor's ethical duty to risk significant personal harm while caring for patients during a disaster. It will assist in informing the relevant policy review process.
Session Chair: Dr Andrew Miller (anaesthetist and Chair of the AMA Ethics and Medico Legal Committee) and Co-chair Sophie Keen (President, Australian Medical Students' Association)
Panel: Prof Paul Komesaroff AM (physician philosopher at Monash University), Dr Mukesh Haikerwal and Dr Katharine Noonan
Nat Con is open to all AMA members and non-member medical professionals in Australia. Internationally-based medical professionals interested in medico-political issues within Australia are also welcome to register. Go to ama.com.au/natcon
