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AUSTRALIA’S LEADING INDEPENDENT MEDICAL PUBLICATION I www.australiandoctor.com.au
1 APRIL 2016
CORPORATE CAPTURE
DISTORTED PROOF
CLOSE CALLS
Doctor ethics and the CommInsure scandal Opinion, page 32
Has evidence-based medicine been hijacked? Journal Talk, page 33
bit.ly/1UIacek
New option in emergency contraception Therapy Update, page 27
Not good enough by half GP incomes a fraction of other specialists’ ALICE KLEIN GPs scrape into the top 50 highest earners in Australia, but still make less than half of many of their specialist colleagues. The average annual taxable income of male GPs is $185,000 per year, which ranks number 48 among all Australian men, according to 2013/14 figures from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO). Female GPs are ranked number 40 among all Australian women, with an average annual taxable income of $130,000. The ATO figures show that male GPs earn less than half the amount of male surgeons, ophthalmologists, cardiologists, obstetricians, gynaecologists, ENT specialists, urologists, gastroenterologists, radiologists, dermatologists and anaesthetists. A similar pattern emerges for female GPs, who earn less than half the amount of female surgeons, obstetricians, gynaecologists and
Average taxable incomes in Australia in 2013/14 Neurosurgeon
$578,000
Neurosurgeon
$324,000
Ophthalmologist
$553,000
Plastic surgeon
$282,000
Cardiologist
$453,000
Vascular surgeon
$272,000
Plastic surgeon
$449,000
Gynaecologist/ Obstetrician
$265,000
Gynaecologist/ Obstetrician
$447,000
Gastroenterologist
$261,000
GP
$185,000
GP
$130,000
gastroenterologists. According to Victorian GP Dr Nancy Nicholas, the income disparity between GPs and other specialists may be the reason why many GPs are forced to keep working into old age. “[It] partly explains why most of the GPs
in my year were still working whereas almost all of the specialists had retired a number of years before our 50 year reunion last year,” she said. The ATO figures do not provide any insights into the number of hours worked, age, or experience.
However, a 2010 Monash University study found that even when these factors were taken into account, the pay gap between GPs and other specialists reduced to only 25%. The study also showed that GPs had higher-than-average incomes if they worked in larger practices, in outer-regional or rural areas, and in areas with lower GP density. Several GPs told Australian Doctor that it was possible for GPs to bump up their earnings close to those of other specialists, but this required “many years of slavery, sacrifice and sleepless nights”. “Sure, there will be GPs who make a lot more [than average] because with our feefor-service system, the sky is the limit in some ways, limited only by the hours one is prepared to work, and how fast one is prepared to work,” said Queensland GP Dr Peter Bradley. cont’d page 4
Registrars ‘deliberately excluded’ from training plans TESSA HOFFMAN
drawn up a confidential paper mooting suggested models for REGISTRARS are furious at industry to “co-fund” 300 GP being locked out of talks on registrar training places. private industry co-funding The health department GP training, amid persistent confirmed it had shown the rumours of a deal that would paper to the AMA, RACGP leave new fellows bonded to and ACRRM after they signed GP corporates. a deed of confidentiality, There are fears of a brave gagging them from talking new world of GP training in about the document. which GP corporates deliver The news has infuriated the training to registrars who are General Practice Registrars then legally bound to work in Australia. their practices for two years CEO Sally Kincaid said it post-fellowship. was “pretty poor” that the only The speculation is being organisation that represented fuelled by revelations the 10739SER_ADW260x60 future trainees had been “quite Department of Health has 2015-09-11T11:44:44+10:00
deliberately excluded from the consultation process”. “As members of the government-appointed General Practice Training Advisory Council, it is even more strange that we are excluded from an issue that goes to the heart of GP training,” Ms Kincaid said. She said rumours suggested several different models around co-funded places were “doing the rounds”, including one that slated a total obligation of up to five years. “As we understand it, this
would require a registrar to undertake to remain with the corporate organisation throughout their training and for a period of up to two years post-fellowship.” The idea poses serious concerns, she said. “The model of training or the model of practice may not suit them: there are no guarantees that they would get the right case mix, exposure to the breadth of general practice, exam support.” It was also alarming that cont’d page 4
GPRA CEO Sally Kincaid says she is concerned about ‘return of service’ obligations.
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