Overseas doctors allege racism
Tuesday Mar 21 08:17 AEDT
Overseas-trained doctors are being warned off practising in NSW because of allegations they are subjected to racism and resented by local doctors.
The Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Association (ADTOA) issued the warning to international doctors, saying doctors from non-English speaking backgrounds were most affected.
According to the federal government, more than 2,400 overseas-trained doctors arrived in Australia
in the past 18 months to help ease a shortage of medical practitioners.
Work was underway to increase that number further by streamlining the visa and accreditation approval process, the government said in a letter to ADTOA.
But ADTOA president Andrew Schwartz said he knew of overseas-trained doctors leaving Australia
because they felt they were unfairly treated.
"Anybody from a non-English speaking country is targeted, the worse your accent is, the more you're targeted," Mr Schwartz said.
"At a minimum, we're telling them don't come to NSW, some of the other states aren't so bad."
Mr (Mr) Schwartz said the decision to warn against practicing in NSW came after he received a letter of complaint from the NSW Resident Medical Officers' Association (RMOA).
RMOA alleged foreign-trained doctors were the target of widespread prejudice, given no support to adjust to the Australian health system, were negatively assessed and made to feel they were a burden to their medical team.
The letter said overseas-trained doctors were often humiliated at work.
Mr Schwartz said the situation was worse in city areas where Australian doctors were trying to protect their own interests.
However, Australian Medical Association (AMA) NSW president Associate Professor John Gullotta said he had not heard of any problems between Australian and overseas-trained doctors.
Programs already were in place to help doctors coming into Australia
to adjust to the community and learn specific cultural issues, he said.
"We've got a workforce shortage as it is, so we are relying on overseas-trained doctors, so the community is delighted to have them where they are needed," Professor Gullotta said.
Doctors warned of racial abuse in wake of Patel scandal
Tuesday, 21/03/2006
Overseas trained doctors are being warned against practising in rural Australia
, because they could face racist abuse from both patients and colleagues.
The Australian Doctors Trained Overseas Group says fallout has not abated, after the "Dr Death" case in Queensland.
Martin Stanley, from the Rural and Remote Workforce Agencies Group, says a positive campaign about the work of overseas trained doctors is urgently needed.
"I think there is a lack of understanding," he said.
"I think there's an assumption that some communities make, that there are doctors all over the place and it's just a matter of picking one to come to their community.
"I think we all, collectively, need to keep telling some of the positive stories about what overseas trained doctors are doing in local communities."
Dr Adel Asaid trained in Egypt, and has practised as a GP in the Victorian town of Elmore for the past eight years.
But he says while getting to know the locals took some time, stories of racism in country areas are exaggerated.
"It wasn't an easy task for me, or even for the town, but the town actually was great, like the town accepted me and welcomed me so that made my life much easier," he said.
"We are four doctors here, one Australian, I'm Egyptian or Egyptian background, one Fijian and one from South Africa, and we all just enjoying it, it's like we've been adopted by them we've been adopted by the town, so we feel like its our family, our town."
Foreign doctors not to blame for communication skills: AMA
The peak body for South Australian doctors has accused the media of racism in its reporting of criticism against overseas-trained doctors.
The state branch of the Australian Medical Association said the media should not blame doctors for their communication difficulties with patients and that the onus is on hospitals to properly supervise their doctors.
Branch president Dr Chris Cain said the doctors had been hired because there were not enough locally trained medical officers.
"These people who have been reported in the papers recently are people who have come here in good faith to do a job for the community," he said.
"They may have been in positions where they had inadequate support or inadequate skills for the work they were undertaking and that's the fault of the system."
|
Topic Tags: 
