Welfare

Where do I go for help?

This is not an exhaustive list of contacts but hopefully a good starting point for concerns related to

• Personal Health and Wellbeing
• Training
• Industrial
• Medico-Legal Issues.

 Personal Health and Wellbeing

• Victorian Doctors Health Program
  • Provides a comprehensive service to support doctors including
    • Advice and information for yourself or someone you are concerned about.
    • GP database of GPs in Victoria that are happy to treat other doctors.
    • Assessment and referral
    • Case management program if ongoing support required
    • Assistance with re-entry to work
    • Caduceus Group (support group for doctors with substance use problems)
    • Advocacy
  • Useful links including
    • Mental Health Services
    • Drug and Alcohol Services
    • Professional Support Services
  • Employee Assistance Program.
    • All health services are supported by their specific Employee Assistance Program.
    • These programs often provide employees and their family members with 24/7 access to telephone counselling and a limited number of free face-to-face counselling sessions, with some able to provide outreach to your workplace for appointments.
    • Your health service human resource / medical workforce department should be able to provide further details.
• AMA Victoria Peer Support Line
  • Provides anonymous and confidential support for a range of issues including stressful incidents at work, workload issues, personal and well-being concerns. They are staffed by doctors who volunteer their time to the service who have done extra training in telephone counselling.
• Keeping Your Grass Greener
  • A detailed well-being guide produced AMSA targeted initially at medical student but expanded to include junior doctor issues. It covers topics as diverse as minfulness to healthy eating and workplace bullying

 Training

• Depending on the nature of your concern, often local health services can provide initial guidance (eg peers, supervising consultant, principal registrar, hospital training director, mental health service clinical director).
• Director of Training
  • Each hospital service in Victoria falls under a regional Director of Training (DoT) who is responsible for providing guidance and oversight for trainees and their training experience and wellbeing.
  • For trainees concerned about potential conflict of interests for their DoT, it is suggested that trainees consider approaching another DoT for guidance.
• RANZCP Trainee Representative Committee
  • TRC has developed a flowchart of various options for informal and formal support for psychiatric trainees. Go to the link labeled Problems in Training available here.
  • Victoria has a state representative on TRC who is also a member of VAPT. General feedback about training issues can be directed to the Victorian TRC Representative. Their email contact is available on the TRC website.
• VAPT
  <see committee section>
  • VAPT can also provide feedback to the College via both the College’s monthly Victoria Branch meeting and Branch Training Committee meetings about trainee concerns.
  • General feedback about training and service related issues can be directed to VAPT service representatives and other members.
  • VAPT represents trainees as a group and does not provide individual support. Individual committee members may be able to give some general advice informally as individuals.

Industrial

• Depending on the nature of your concern, often local health services can provide initial guidance (eg peers, supervising consultant, principal registrar, hospital training director, mental health service clinical director).
• AMA Victoria
  • Depending on the situation, it may be more suitable to seek external advice.
  • AMA Victoria have a industrial relations department that can provide phone advice as they are often familiar with systems at specific services and often provide advice on how to navigate these systems without requiring any formal representation.
  • However if formal representation is recommended, you can become a member to access their industrial relations services.
  • Their Doctors in Training (DiT) Subdivision also provides advocacy for junior doctors in general.
  • First Response is a free, confidential telephone support service (ph:1300 262 362) for all Victorian doctors who may be facing workplace bullying, discrimination or harassment. More information can be found here.
• A copy of the current Enterprise Bargaining Agreement that outlines entitlements and rates of pay can be found here [PDF format].

Medico-legal

• In general, it is always better to seek advice earlier rather than later as issues of a medico-legal nature can be quite stressful.
• Immediate senior staff can provide support and debriefing.
• The hospital legal department can also provide guidance.
• It is a good idea to have an up-to-date membership with your own Medical Defence Organisation (eg Avant, MIPS, MDA National) and most provide a 24/7 phone advisory service.

This page updated May 2015.