GUMS News

The first AMSA Council meeting for 2010 was held recently in Adelaide. Many policy issues were discussed that may affect all Australian medical students.

Corporate Governance Review: AMSA is undergoing a corporate governance review, with the aim of restructuring to make AMSA stronger and less at risk of collapse. AMSA will also be updating its outdated official documents. THINK, a professional company that does consulting work on these types of reviews, has been contracted to conduct the review and make suggestions about what changes need to be made. As part of this review, THINK will be going to all capital cities to talk with students about what they like and don’t like about AMSA. The QLD part of this will be held at UQ and Griffith students should be notified of the time and date so you can attend also.

National Indigenous Curriculum: MDANZ (Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand) previously put together a national curriculum of indigenous studies for medical students. An initial review stated that, whist Deans thought they were delivering the curriculum correctly, students did not think they were being taught the curriculum points outlined. The Deans have since attempted further to make sure that the curriculum points are being covered. There is another review due soon. GUMS would like to give feedback to the Griffith School of Medicine about whether they are covering the curriculum points adequately. If you would like to read the national indigenous curriculum and give us feedback, please email president@gums.org.au.

AMSA National Student and Teaching Prizes: At this Council meeting, AMSA decided to start up an annual AMSA National Student Prize and an annual AMSA National Teaching Prize. Details will be posted on the AMSA website soon.

National Barrier Exam Policy: AMSA adopted a new policy regarding the proposal of a national barrier exam for all final year students. Proponents argue that this would ensure all graduates are at the same standard upon commencement of their careers. AMSA does not support the implementation of a national barrier exam. This policy document will be available on the AMSA website soon. 

AMSA Convention: AMSA Convention 2010 will be held in Hobart from Sunday 4 July. All plans are in place for this to be an amazing adventure into the wild for 800 medical students from around Australia. Registration opens 11pm AEDST Tuesday 23 March and is done on a first come, first serve basis so you need to get in quick! Click here to go to the Convention 2010 website. 

AMSA Global Health Conference: AMSA GHC 2010 will be held in Hobart from Thursday 1 July. The organising committee has done a great job putting together an impressive program. Keep an eye on the GHC website for registration details. 

Wellbeing Policy: AMSA adopted a new policy about medical student wellbeing. The policy document will be available on the AMSA website soon. 

NRLDS (National Rural Leadership Development Seminar): NRLDS will take place from Thursday 8 April to Saturday 10 April in Wollongong. Applications are now open and close on Friday 12 March. Griffith will have a maximum of 4 places at the seminar. Click here to apply. 

Health Workforce Agency: HWA is currently coordinating the formation of a national registration body, which will register all doctors and medical students. They are also concerned with workforce planning. AMSA is appealing to have student representation on the HWA committees. 

Regulation of Medical Student Numbers Policy: AMSA adopted new policy on regulation of medical student numbers. AMSA is for regulation, believing that it is necessary in order to maintain quality teaching and training. Keep an eye on the AMSA website for the full policy document. 

RED Centre Electives Database: AMSA has started setting up an online database of previous medical student electives. If you would like to contribute to the database, click here.

If you have any suggestions or feedback for AMSA, please email amsa@gums.org.au.