Australian Medical Association

This position statement addresses reproductive cloning of human beings as well as other cloning techniques.

This position statement addresses reproductive cloning of human beings as well as other cloning techniques.

Genetic testing will increasingly play a vital role in mainstream health care in terms of preventive health and diagnosing and treating illness. This position statement addresses various aspects of genetic testing including access, consent and genetic counselling, privacy, genetic discrimination, direct to consumer genetic tests, public and professional education, workforce and infrastructure, research, gene patents, and genetic selection. 

Genetic testing will increasingly play a vital role in mainstream health care in terms of preventive health and diagnosing and treating illness. This position statement addresses various aspects of genetic testing including access, consent and genetic counselling, privacy, genetic discrimination, direct to consumer genetic tests, public and professional education, workforce and infrastructure, research, gene patents, and genetic selection.

Welcome to Australian Medicine - the national news magazine of the Australian Medical Association.

We offer a unique opportunity to communicate with doctors across every medical specialty and in 2012 will continue to offer highly competitive advertising rates for our clients. Australian Medicine has a readership of over 28,000 and is a great channel to use to send a direct message to our doctors.

The costs associated with lifestyle related disease are increasing, evidence suggests that using financial incentives and disincentives with patients can encourage preventive health behaviours.

The costs associated with lifestyle related disease are increasing. Evidence suggests that using financial incentives and disincentives with patients can encourage preventive health behaviours. This AMA background paper outlines the currently available research on when financial incentives and disincentives are likely to be effective, and when they are not.

It is difficult for Australian families to find the right information they need to make healthy choices about the food they consume. The AMA believes that a system of Traffic Light labelling on food products can provide easy to understand nutritional information for people to make those choices. This AMA paper publication details the evidence for a Traffic Light system of labelling and its advantages compared to alternative approaches.

It is difficult for Australian families to find the right information they need to make healthy choices about the food they consume. This AMA publication outlines the case for a Traffic Light system of labelling on food products to ensure that consumers can easily recognise and compare the healthiness of food products.

The idea of a chaperone may seem old fashioned. But patients differ in their preception of what is required during a medical examination,  particularly if the patient comes from a different background. The presence of a chaperone is one way to minimise complaints being made against doctors.

Whenever you are conducting an examination, whether it is in a suburban surgery or in a busy hospital, consider whether you should have a chaperone present.

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) is the peak membership organisation representing the registered medical practitioners (doctors) and medical students of Australia.

The AMA promotes and protects the professional interests of doctors and the health care needs of patients and communities.

The AMA advocates on behalf of its members and the community at the Federal and State and Territory levels.

The AMA improves patient care by supporting the medical profession across a range of essential services.

The AMA's submission highlights how important it is to inform registered medical practitioners (doctors), patients, their family and carers, and the wider public of the standard of behaviour expected of doctors in relation to sexual boundaries within the doctor-patient relationship. It’s imperative that doctors understand and respect their ethical and legal duties in relation to sexual boundaries. It’s also important that patients, their family members and carers understand and respect these boundaries as well. As such, the AMA believes that the guidelines need to be clear, comprehensive and avoid ambiguity.

It has become increasingly common for health practitioners not holding a medical degree or professional doctorate qualifications, to adopt the title ‘Doctor’ (Dr). The AMA opposes the use of the title ‘Dr’  by health practitioners in a way that misleads people into believing they are consulting or receiving treatment from a medical practitioner.

Within the health care team, each professional brings a particular combination of training and experience which defines their role and responsibilities. This AMA Positition Statement outlines the core knowledge, skills and unique qualities of medical practice that make medical practitioners a pivotal part of Australia’s health system.  In this position statement the term ‘doctor’, which is the term in common community use, refers to a medical practitioner and the terms are used interchangeably.

The purpose of this Guideline is to clarify the responsibilities of medical practitioners, patients, and relevant third parties regarding certificates certifying illness ("sickness certificates") within the context of the doctor-patient relationship.

Doctors, particularly General Practitioners, provide preventative care to their patients on a regular basis. Doctors also coordinate the preventative care that patients need from other health care professionals, and promote health and prevention in the broader community. The AMA position statement "Doctors and Preventative Care 2010" describe these important aspects of a doctor's role.

The AMA's Position Statement on Doctors' Relationships with Industry 2010 provides guidance for doctors on maintaining ethical relationships with the pharmaceutical industry, medical device and technology industry, and health care product and service suppliers in general ('industry'). While collaboration between doctors and industry contributes beneficially to the quality of health care that Australians receive, doctors have a responsibility to ensure that their relationships with industry are consistent with their duties to their patients and towards society at large.

The AMA's Position Statement on Medical Professionalism 2010 serves to identify the major values of the profession and highlight the profession's commitment, and indeed responsibility, to put patients first, regardless of the challenges posed by a dynamic health care and broader social environment.

The AMA supports high quality primary health care services that are convenient for patients and enhance patient access.

Incorporating pharmacy services into general practice would improve patient care, and medication management in particular, by allowing GPs to lead a team of co-located health professionals, including pharmacists, in providing collaborative health care to local patients.

A General Practice Pharmacy could be established within or next to an existing general practice and there should be the option for doctor owned pharmacies as an integral part of providing patients with convenient access to primary care services. Pharmacists would still retain the professional and legal responsibility for dispensing medicines, independent of the GP.

To enable these services to be established, the current restrictions on pharmacy location and ownership need to be lifted.

The AMA Ethics and Medico Legal Committee is developing guidelines for members on managing potential conflicts of interest that may arise from pharmacy ownership by the medical profession.

The Australian Medical Council (AMC) is developing a national code of professional conduct for doctors entitled Good Medical Practice: A Code of Conduct for Doctors in Australia (previously entitled Good Medical Practice: A Draft Code of Professional Conduct). The Code is intended to supersede existing State and Territory medical board professional conduct codes. The AMC intends to recommend that it be adopted by the new national medical board. The AMC's Final Consultation Draft of April 2009 reflects the feedback they received in response to the previous public consultation draft of August 2008.

The AMA's submission is attached.

Whilst the AMA considers the Final Consultation Draft to be a major improvement on the earlier version, the AMA has highlighted a few sections that require further amendment, including the sections on conscientious objection and on conflicts of interest. The AMA has also emphasised the need for the release of the Code to be accompanied by relevant public and profession based education campaigns and to be subject to a regular 3-5 year review cycle.

In March 2009, the AMA adopted the World Medical Association's Declaration of Seoul on Professional Autonomy and Clinical Independence. The medical profession is committed to ensuring patients' interests come first.  This declaration advocates that doctors have the freedom to exercise their professional judgement in the care and treatment of their patients without undue influence by outside parties or individuals.

The AMA Joint Submission highlights concerns that the proposed arrangements will impose additional requirements on registrants to provide information, including workforce data, to the relevant board as a condition of registration, and extend existing arrangements for information sharing about registered medical practitioners between various government agencies.

AMA Joint Submission on Good Medical Practice: A Draft Code of Professional Conduct (August 2008)

AMA Position Statement: Ethical Considerations for Medical Practitioners in Public Health Emergencies in Australia - 2008

AMA Position Statement: Unique Healthcare Identifiers - 2008

AMA Position Statement on Direct-to-Consumer Advertising - 2007

AMA comments on the Review of Australian Privacy Law, Discussion Paper 72

AMA Position Statement on the Role of the Medical Practitioner in End of Life Care - 2007

AMA Position Statement: Endorsement by the AMA of Products and Services - 1989. Revised 2006

The AMA Code of Ethics articulates and promotes a body of ethical principles to guide doctors' conduct in their relationships with patients, colleagues and society. This Code has grown out of other similar ethical codes stretching back into history including the Hippocratic Oath.