The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) welcomes the release of the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency's 2020 Medical Training Survey (MTS).
The survey's findings were consistent with last year's survey, with trainees rating the quality of their training highly and concerns about culture persisting. It found:
· 81% of doctors in training would recommend their current training position to other doctors, compared to 78% in 2019
· the same percentage would recommend their current workplace as a place to train, compared to 76% in 2019
· teaching sessions were rating as excellent or very good by 83%, compared to 80% in 2019
· 46% of doctors in training believed the COVID-19 pandemic had both a positive and negative effect on their training.
More than half of the doctors in training in Australia took part in the MTS in 2020, some 21,851 individuals.
Among specialist GP trainees, the most common general practice training program was run by the RACGP at 85%.
There were similar concerns about culture, with nearly a third (30%) of doctors in training reporting having witnessed bullying, harassment and/or discrimination, and 21% reporting to have experienced it.
However, these concerns continued to be less of a problem for GPs in training – specialist GP trainees reported the lowest rates of bullying, harassment and/or discrimination, with 17% having witnessed it and 14% experienced it.
RACGP President Dr Karen Price said bullying and harassment was unacceptable.
"While it's welcome news that this is less of a concern for specialist GPs in training than other doctors in training, it is still a problem and we need to do more to stamp it out," she said.
"Bullying, harassment and discrimination doesn't belong in any workplace or training environment.
"The RACGP is on track to lead the Australian General Practice Program. This transition has been years in the making and it provides a once in lifetime opportunity to improve training for our future GPs. Combatting bullying, discrimination and harassment is the highest priority."
Chair of the RACGP's National Faculty for GPs in Training, Dr Sean Black-Tiong, welcomed the 2020 survey.
"This survey provides a welcome opportunity to assess medical training in Australia and for every medical college to consider where improvements can and should be made," he said.
"The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of general practice in Australia for the health of our communities. High quality training is essential for Australia's future GP workforce."
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