Anti-migrant sentiments, allostatic load and the welfare of the Australian psychiatric workforce

We propose that anti-migrant sentiments (AMS) are a stressor to which psychiatrists and psychiatric trainees in Australia are particularly susceptible, given the significant proportion of specialist international medical graduates that comprises the Australian psychiatric workforce. We conceptualise this stressor as a potential contributor to allostatic load (AL) - a term used to describe multi-system physiological dysregulation in individuals exposed to chronic stress. We illustrate how the AL concept can be utilised to understand and address how AMS can have tangible biological impacts on psychiatric doctors in Australia and also give rise to broader workforce implications.