Volume 201 - Issue 10
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students' and doctors' career intentions
Authors: Dana R-M L Slape and Angela E Carberry
Med J Aust 2014; 201 (10): 576-577. || doi: 10.5694/mja14.00788
Published online: 17 November 2014
Published online: 17 November 2014
Understanding the demographics, career intentions and outcomes for this group can help achieve positive change for Indigenous health
To the Editor: In the past 30 years, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical workforce has rapidly expanded. However, proportionally, there is still underrepresentation of Indigenous people in all areas of medicine.1 General practice has remained successful in attracting Indigenous people to undertake fellowships,1 but there are many specialties that have yet to see an Indigenous trainee or fellow.
Indigenous medical student numbers reached population parity for the first time in 2012.2 As these numbers increase, it is important to understand the demographics, career intentions and outcomes for this group, to achieve positive change for Indigenous health through improved support and reduced attrition of students.
The Medical Schools Outcomes Database and Longitudinal Tracking (MSOD) project collects data on Australian medical students and doctors.3,4 All students are invited to complete short questionnaires when commencing and finishing medical school and subsequent postgraduate years. Between 2005 and 2012, 36 244 participants completed the surveys.4
Up to 2012, 296 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students had completed the commencing medical students questionnaire (CMSQ); 45 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students had completed the exit questionnaire, and 26 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors had completed the postgraduate year 1 questionnaire. Despite attrition in response rates, which may be attributable to a prolonged time to graduation, Indigenous students and doctors tend to be older, more likely to have children and more likely to identify as being from a rural background compared with non-Indigenous participants across all surveys (Box).
In all questionnaires assessed so far, general practice was the highest ranked preference for Indigenous medical students (Box). Overall, of all MSOD participants in the CMSQ, only 47 (0.2%) ranked Indigenous health as a first preference. This shows that improved pathways for Indigenous people into specialty training remain important, and that improved strategies to encourage both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people into Indigenous health should also be further developed. These results and future results of the MSOD project will provide a useful evidence base to guide policy development in Australia, particularly surrounding workforce, medical education and vocational training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students and doctors.
Demographic details of Indigenous and non-Indigenous survey participants in the Medical Schools Outcomes Database and Longitudinal Tracking project, 2005–2012
Commencing medical students questionnaire | Exit questionnaire | Postgraduate year 1 questionnaire | |||||||||||||
Demographic characteristics | Indigenous (n = 296) | Non-Indigenous (n = 21 709) | Indigenous (n = 45) | Non-Indigenous (n = 8392) | Indigenous (n = 26) | Non-Indigenous (n = 4510) | |||||||||
Participant response rate | 84.8% | 91.0% | 72.6% | 83.0% | 49.1% | 67.0% | |||||||||
Women | 55.1% | 52.7% | 48.9% | 53.7% | 61.5% | 56.7% | |||||||||
Marital status (married) | 9.1%* | 3.6% | 11.1% | 10.4% | 19.2% | 20.2% | |||||||||
Have children (> 1 child) | 16.8%* | 2.8% | 19.0%* | 5.5% | 15.4%* | 8.7% | |||||||||
Mean age (years) | 24* | 21 | 28* | 26 | 30* | 27 | |||||||||
Identify as being from a rural background | 55.7%* | 19.0% | 48.6%* | 17.9% | 61.9%* | 18.9% | |||||||||
First preference to pursue general practice | 32.0%* | 20.6% | 25.0%* | 19.4% | 26.3% | 26.4% | |||||||||
* P < 0.05 for comparison with non-Indigenous participants. | |||||||||||||||
Competing interests
No relevant disclosures.
Acknowledgements
This letter is based on research that used data provided by the MSOD project, Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand. We thank the medical schools, medical students, graduates and doctors who participated. The MSOD project was possible due to funding made available by Health Workforce Australia (2011–2014) and the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing (2004–2011).
References
- Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health labour force statistics and data quality assessment. Canberra: AIHW, 2009. (AIHW Cat. No. IHW 27.) http://www.aihw.gov.au/publication-detail/?id=6442468240 (accessed Sep 2014).
- Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand. Indigenous health priorities. http://www.medicaldeans.org.au/projects-activities/indigenous-health/indigenous-health-priorities (accessed May 2014).
- Medical Deans Australia and New Zealand. Medical Schools Outcomes Database. http://www.medicaldeans.org.au/msod (accessed May 2014).
- Kaur B, Carberry A, Hogan N, et al. The medical schools outcomes database project: Australian medical student characteristics. BMC Med Educ 2014; 14: 180. lefthere