The demand for doctors in emergency medicine is high across Australia. The number of graduates are increasing and these graduates do have a lot of opportunities to work in emergency medicine in Australia. At the same time, International medical graduates (IMGs) are also provided opportunities to work in different states in the country, through specific types of visas.

However, there seem to be a few considerations in specific areas in terms of the emergency medicine (EM) workforce in Australia. Here is an outline of the demand for the EM physician workforce in Australia and related concerns.

Problems in the EM physician workforce

The Australian healthcare sector along with the government needs to ensure the existence of an emergency medicine workforce that is equally distributed within all communities in the country. There has been a gap in fulfilling this exact requirement up until now. There are a few problems that need solutions in terms of the EM physician workforce. These are:

·        Geographic mal-distribution and its effect on health equity

·        High workloads, access blocks and inadequate staffing

·        Balancing training requirements and service provision needs

Development plan for EM physician workforce

 A proper development plan needs to be in place which focuses on the following:

·        Equitable access to emergency medical care

·        Develop a sustainable FACEM workforce where FACEMs can work in a safe healthcare system which allows them to provide the best care for patients. It will also lead to higher levels of job satisfaction and career longevity

·        A multidisciplinary workforce led by FACEMs

·        Adequate skills training and education programs to ensure the highest standards in emergency medical care all across Australia.

What the future looks like

The future of EM needs to be reshaped with the following inclusions to it:

·        An increased middle-grade emergency medicine physician workforce

·        Alternative accreditation models

·        More rural and regional training pathways

Growth in the industry

The demand for emergency medicine continues to grow. According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, there were over 8.4 million presentations to emergency departments (EDs) in Australian public hospitals between 2018 and 2019. This is a rise of 2.4% compared to between 2017 and 2018.

The demand is expected to grow due to changes to health policies, changing demographics, increasing economic hardship especially due to the pandemic, and the increasing cost of private health insurance.

Along with the growth in demand for emergency care, there is a significant growth in the size of the EM speciality. The period from 2011 to 2019 showed a 107% increase in the total number of FACEMs and a 126% increase in new FACEMs annually.

Here is a graph outlining the annual growth of the number of FACEMs.

Source: Australasian College for Emergency Medicine (ACEM)

The Australia Department of Health predicts that there will be an oversupply of the EM workforce in Australia by 2030.

Drivers of growth

Several factors drive the growth of the emergency medicine speciality. These are:

·        Interchangeable service provision training

·        Deregulated entry into the training program

·        Predicted doctor scarcity and changes in the policy

Workplace culture and sustainability

The workplace culture plays a significant role in the sustainability of the EM workforce. The sustainability of the EM workforce is also affected by emergency physician burnout and employment status issues. There are also issues related to access block, inadequate staffing, and geographic mal-distribution.

In inadequate staffing of EDs has led to an issue due to the existing staff not being utilized optimally. A majority of FACEMs work in multiple part-time roles. In 2019, 32% of FACEMs worked in two workplaces and 13% worked in more than three workplaces.

Here is a graph outlining the working balance of new FACEMs during the first two six-month periods post Fellowship.

Source: ACEM

The above graph shows many of the FACEMs work in more than one workplace.

Geographic mal-distribution

Geographic mal-distribution of the emergency physician workforce is also a high concern. There is a significant shortage of staff in regional, rural, and remote areas due to this reason.

26.1% of FACEMs and 17.7% of trainees worked in rural or regional areas.

46% of new FACEMs worked in city areas while 33% works in rural or remote locations. There is an increase in the latter percentage which was 12.9% in 2014.

The graph below outlines the FACEMs workforce spread in terms of remote areas:

Source: ACEM

In terms of emergency department staffing, over half (51.6%) of Australia’s ACEM-accredited major hospital EDs were meeting ACEM’s minimum FACEM staffing model.

The decision to work in metro or rural areas

Below are the pull factors that affect member and trainee decisions to work in the city or regional/ rural areas.

Source: ACEM

State-wise demand for Emergency Medicine doctors

The highest demand for EM doctors exists in New South Wales with Queensland running second and Victoria at third. Other states including Western Australia, South Australia, Tasmania, Northern Territory, and Australian Capital Territory also has a fair share of demand for EM doctors.

The table below shows the spread out of FACEMs working full-time and part-time across different states in Australia.

Source: ACEM

Of the FACEMs working in multiple EDs, a larger proportion of those working in city areas only were working full-time hours when compared with those in remote or regional areas only (71% compared with 68%).

The table below outlines the employment status of FACEMs working across more than one ED, by the remoteness of ED.

Source: ACEM

Here is an overall spreading of employees in emergency medicine across Australia.

·        New South Wales: 30.1%

·        Queensland: 24.2%

·        Victoria: 22.5%

·        Western Australia: 11.1%

·        South Australia: 6.1%

·        Tasmania: 2.5%

·        Australian Capital Territory: 1.8%

·        Northern Territory: 1.8%

Job opportunities and pay rates

EM physicians get to work in a busy working environment. Generally, they work about four shifts a week and one in four weekends. Emergency medicine doctors in Australia are paid well. The average annual salary of a doctor in emergency medicine in Australia is $191,196 or $98.05 per hour. The salary for an entry-level position is approximately $190,624 annually while the salary for an experienced position is approximately $203,773 annually.

Read the article Emergency medicine job opportunities in Australia for more information on EM job opportunities.

Conclusion

It is clear that the demand for emergency medicine physicians is high, especially in remote ad rural Australia. There are many job opportunities from trainees to FACEMs which provide extensive career growth.

At Medfuture, we can provide you with guidance towards a successful career in emergency medicine. We provide a current and updated list of emergency medicine job vacancies on our website.

Visit our website for more information on the latest medical jobs across all states and suburbs in Australia.

Here are a few related articles to read:

Complete Guide to Becoming an Emergency Medicine Doctor in Australia

Who are Emergency Medicine Doctors? How to become one?

How to become an emergency medicine doctor in the UK?

External Sources

https://www.health.gov.au/resources/publications/emergency-medicine-australias-future-health-workforce-report

https://acem.org.au/getmedia/0f779869-119d-426e-9d7d-924c49205f86/Workforce-Consultation-Report

https://acem.org.au/getmedia/c900376b-3a46-431f-8380-a8251b334b75/2020_Demographic_and_Workforce_Report_20210824

https://labourmarketinsights.gov.au/occupation-profile/emergency-medicine-specialists?occupationCode=253912