A national survey shows doctors-in-training are allegedly facing bullying, harrassment and racisim as one in five consider leaving

An Australian Medical Association SA chair says the future health of the state depends on improving workplace culture as one third of trainees report systemic failures within the system.

South Australia’s doctors-in-training say they are dealing with growing rates of bullying, harassment, racism and discrimination, according to the results of a national survey.

The workplace pressures mean almost one in five young doctors are considering a future outside medicine, further adding to the crisis in health which has seen the nation increasingly rely on overseas trained doctors to fill gaps.

The 2024 Medical Training Survey was completed by 25,000 junior doctors including 1456 medical trainees across metropolitan and regional South Australia.

One in five junior doctors who responded said they experienced bullying, harassment, racism and discrimination in the past 12 months — but most kept it to themselves.

Almost three-quarters did not report the behaviour.

Chair of AMA SA’s Doctors in Training Committee, Dr Hayden Cain. Picture: Supplied

Nationally, one third of trainees said they had experienced and/or witnessed bullying, discrimination, harassment, sexual harassment and/or racism.

Chair of the Australian Medical Association South Australia Doctors in Training committee, Dr Hayden Cain said the problem appears to be getting worse.

‘The percentage of junior doctors who reported bullying, harassment, racism or discrimination in this year’s survey was two per cent higher than it was last year,’ Dr Cain said.

‘Right now it’s clear that the majority of junior doctors who fall victim to this destructive behaviour do not feel comfortable reporting it. As long as that’s the case, the bad behaviour will not change.

‘We must work on developing clear and simple reporting pathways so we can begin to address the stubborn cultural and systemic issues which underpin the high rates of bullying harassment and racism junior doctors confront.’

Dr Cain said patients should be worried.

‘When doctors’ health and wellbeing is affected, so too is their capacity to provide best practice care,’ he said.

‘The culture of medicine must improve to create safe training and work settings for doctors and their patients.”

AMA SA president Dr John Williams noted most junior doctors in South Australia are satisfied with the quality of their education, with 88 per cent describing their clinical supervision as good or excellent while 85 per cent described the quality of teaching sessions as good or excellent.

However, Dr Williams said it is clear that cultural issues need to be addressed.

“17 per cent of junior doctors in South Australia – that’s almost 1 in 5 – said they were considering a future outside of medicine,” he said.

“That should be a major wake-up call for health decision makers across the system. Australia needs more doctors to meet the complex health needs of the population.

‘We must do everything we can to support junior doctors to ensure they go on to enjoy long careers. The future health of the state depends on it.’