AMA President Dr Danielle McMullen provides members with the latest from the national AMA.
Hello, and happy Friday!
What an amazing time in Adelaide for AMA25! It was so good to catch up with colleagues from all around Australia, as well as from overseas - many thanks to Prof Prakitpunthu "Pom" Tomthitchong, President of the Thailand Medical Association for making it to Adelaide. The Minister for Health, Ageing and Disability, Mark Butler, also took time out of a busy schedule to address the conference and welcome delegates to his hometown of Adelaide.
The feedback from conference attendees has been terrific and really reflects the extremely hard work of our incredible AMA staff. Thanks to everyone who helped to make this happen.
There were so many informative & inspiring sessions - the depth and breadth of knowledge on hand was quite something! Personally, I was really inspired by the numerous award winners announced over the conference (check out a separate article in this bulletin for all the details of their achievements).
I'll particularly call out Dr Raji Krishnan, to whom I awarded our President's award this year. I met Dr Krishnan and her team in Perth earlier this year and was blown away by her commitment to delivering care to a community in need. And of course, I was honoured to award our Gold Medal to two friends and mentors - our past presidents Dr Tony Bartone and Dr Omar Khorshid. Their commitment to our profession and our patients throughout COVID-19 was nothing short of incredible and I'm so glad we've finally been able to recognise their service.
I am really proud to say that thanks to all of your donations to the AMA Indigenous Medical Scholarship we were able to award THREE scholarships this year! Congratulations to Samantha Nillissen, Myles McKenzie and Kayla Williams-Tucker for your achievements so far - it's fair to say there wasn't a dry eye in the room hearing from these incredible young doctors at our conference. We are so proud to welcome you into the profession and can't wait to see what more you achieve. You can read more about these inspirational students on our website .
I've got to say I was rather pleased to hear the Head of the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), Professor Tony Lawler announce at AMA25 that the TGA will be undertaking consultation on the unapproved goods scheme as a result of growing online telehealth prescribing of medicines, including medicinal cannabis. We'll have plenty more to say about this going forward.
It's back to business following AMA25, and this week I've been busy with the Strengthening Medicare Taskforce implementation meeting, in which we are continuing to advocate for really vital reforms to Medicare, including reformed consultation items and better supports for team-based care.
I also managed a few days of leave after our conference to explore the beautiful Clare Valley in SA. Refreshed and recharged, I'll update you with more next week!
Until then stay safe and well, and thanks again to everyone who attended and helped make AMA25 such a success!
