Medical Labour Force 1996, to be released on Thursday
by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, shows that many
doctors continue to work 65 hours or more per week. These hours
were worked by 28.7% of surgeons, 20.6% of specialists-in-training,
19.7% of internal medicine specialists and 15.4% of interns and
resident medical officers. In contrast, only 4.9% of pathologists
worked more than 65 hours a week.
Working 80 or more hours per week is not uncommon in the
surgical specialities - more than one in every six paediatric
surgeons, and one in ten surgeons practising general surgery,
cardiothoracic surgery, plastic surgery, urology and vascular
surgery worked such hours.
Over 80% of female GPs worked less than 50 hours per week in
contrast to 43.5% of male GPs.
The hours worked by general practitioners increased with
distance from major population centres from an average in
metropolitan areas of around 50 hours per week for males and 34
hours per week for females to an average in remote areas of 56
hours for males and 45 hours for females.
Mr Warwick Conn of the AIHW's Labour Force Unit said that
'Female medical graduates tend to be in fields of medicine with
greater opportunities for part-time work and shorter working
hours.
'In 1996, over half (58.2%) of general practice trainees were
female. In the specialties, just under a third (32.6%) of trainees
were females, the highest proportions of these being in
endocrinology, haematology, medical administration, paediatric
medicine and obstetrics and gynaecology. The lowest proportion of
female specialist trainees was in the surgical disciplines.'
Other findings of the report include:
- In 1996 there were 45,342 clinical medical practitioners
working in Australia. Of these, 27.5% were females - an increase
from 25% in 1993.
- 22.8% of primary care practitioners were in rural and remote
areas-up from 20.8% in 1994. This proportion contrasts with the
28.9% of the population living in rural and remote areas.
- In 1996 there were 547 clinical medical practitioners working
in an Aboriginal health service, either as their main, second or
third job. Just over 38% (209) of these were females. There was no
available information on how many of these doctors were Aboriginal
or Torres Strait Islanders themselves.
- 63% of Aboriginal health service medical practitioners worked
in a metropolitan area where 36.2% of the Indigenous population was
located.
20 August 1998
Further information: Warwick Conn, ph. 02 6244
1154.
For media copies of the report: Lena Searle, ph.
02 6244 1032.
Availability: Check the AIHW Publications
Catalogue for details.