Relieving medical officers in Queensland country hospitals

Evaluation of training and preparedness of Queensland country hospital relieving staff to perform their duties.

A postal survey of 208 medical graduates who graduated in 1983 and were first enrolled on the Queensland Medical Register in 1985.

Among the problems described was a lack of practical training in obstetrics, anaesthetics, paediatrics and emergency services. Most respondents (83%) stated that their total experience had been inadequate to provide the services required of them as relievers. Unsupervised services were provided by inexperienced junior doctors. Seventy-two per cent of all obstetric relievers, and 57% of all anaesthetic relievers, had completed three months or less of supervised postgraduate training at the time of the survey. This was reflected in poor levels of confidence to perform basic procedures, despite the fact that a high percentage of respondents had been called upon to do this. Both undergraduate and postgraduate training was felt to be inadequate. Suggestions made by respondents focused primarily on the provision of supervised "hands-on" clinical experience, with longer and more practically oriented training at both levels, decentralisation of teaching, and more readily available formal non-specialist qualifications in obstetrics and anaesthetics.

Most respondents claimed that they were inadequately prepared for the relieving experience. The provision of supervised hands-on basic clinical training and that of competent country relievers might both be achieved by longer rotations to provincial centres on a regular basis in the early postgraduate years.