Overtime claiming among Australian doctors-in-training

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Occupational Health
• Health Workforce Research

Background:

• Doctors-in-training in New South Wales (NSW) often work beyond scheduled hours.
• Understanding overtime patterns and claiming behaviors is crucial for physician wellbeing and workforce planning.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify overtime worked by doctors-in-training in NSW.
• To explore reasons why doctors-in-training do not claim overtime.
• To identify differences in overtime patterns across training levels and specialties.

Main Methods:

• A confidential online self-reporting survey was administered to post-graduate doctors-in-training in NSW.
• Data collected included average overtime hours, claiming patterns, and reasons for not claiming.
• Statistical comparisons were made based on training level and specialty.

Main Results:

• 73.5% of respondents worked at least 5 hours of unrostered overtime per fortnight.
• Only 15.6% claimed all unrostered overtime, with 45.5% of those paid in full.
• Workplace culture (37.0%) and non-approved reasons (32.6%) were key reasons for not claiming.
• Significant differences existed between critical care, physician, and surgical training pathways (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• A significant discrepancy exists between expected and actual working hours for doctors-in-training.
• Underpayment and unaddressed overtime raise concerns about income loss and impaired wellbeing.
• Hidden workloads impact workforce allocation planning and physician welfare.