Terms of Reference
Medical Specialist Training Steering Committee
The Medical Specialist Training Steering Committee has been convened by the Australian Health Ministers' Advisory Council (AHMAC) to report back on issues with implementing the training model which was developed by the Medical Specialist Training Taskforce.Three Reference Groups have been formed to provide expert guidance and support to the Medical Specialist Training Taskforce. The work of Reference Groups 1 & 2 will require input from stakeholders of training, such as government health departments, hospital administrators, supervisors, and trainees.
Many of these stakeholders are already represented on the Steering Committee and Reference Groups, therefore these will be the first point of call for the consultants who are undertaking this work. The Secretariat will provide the consultants with membership and contact information, and also act as a liaison as necessary.
In the event that the consultants need to ascertain particular information from specific stakeholders, for example a trainee working in a private practice in a rural Queensland area, the consultants should seek a nomination from the applicable Reference Group. The Reference Groups are experts who are being convened to provide guidance to the consultant and the consultant is encouraged to use the Reference Groups as a resource.
Reference Group 1: Risk Assessment
- Assess the additional costs and benefits of training, which would result if the proposed specialist training model is implemented;
- Assess the costs of administering the proposed specialist training model; and
- Assess the service delivery effects for private hospitals of implementing the proposed training model, in terms of costs.
Reference Group 2: Implications for Service Delivery in Public Hospitals
- Verify and expand upon data analysis (initially undertaken by the Australian Government), to assess the impact of the increased number of training positions demanded by increases to medical school intakes and Australian Medical Council graduates on the expected number of training positions which will be required to meet future workforce requirements.
- Identify whether the implementation of the proposed training model would result in altered numbers and distribution of trainees in public settings, for each recognised medical specialty;
- Assess the consequences and implications of the above, for service delivery in public settings in each State and Territory, metropolitan or rural area, and speciality, and for the short and long term; and
- Recommend solutions and strategies to address these implications, including the costs of such solutions.
Reference Group 3: Review of Training Programs
- Explore the educational imperative for training in settings other than public teaching hospitals, by seeking information from each colleges on the average proportion of training time required in each setting of the proposed training model;
- For each specialty, identify the learning objectives related to each setting;
- Bearing in mind that the proposed training model recommends a networked approach to training settings, specify the infrastructure and resource requirements required in each potential setting to support the learning objectives. This assessment should anticipate collaborative resourcing arrangements between specialties and colleges.
- Identify overlaps between the learning objectives, training settings and opportunities for standardisation and collaboration between colleges.