Medicine in Australia: Balancing Employment and Life (MABEL)
The Australian Longitudinal Survey of Doctors
This new longitudinal survey will improve understanding of how changes in the working lives of Australian doctors are influencing the provision of healthcare.
MABEL has been endorsed by a range of national professional medical organisations, colleges, societies and training providers. MABEL is also supported by an active Policy Reference Group to ensure that the results of MABEL are used.Background
The health workforce is now a key focus of government policy. The ever-increasing demand for health care, the ageing of the medical workforce, the increase in the number of women entering medicine and changes in doctors preferences in relation to their work life balance, all have an impact on the ability of the health care system to provide high quality and accessible health care. Despite this, there is little knowledge or understanding of how and why doctors make decisions about such things as how many hours they work, their location of work (including decisions about working in rural and remote areas) or when to leave the medical workforce and retire. These decisions have important implications for the population’s access to health care and therefore their health status and the quality of care received.The research
The research will examine the changing patterns of doctors working lives over time in order to better understand doctor shortages and surpluses and the pivotal role of doctors in the health care system. Changes in doctors’ family circumstances, job satisfaction, earnings and the nature of their work will be examined in order to determine the most effective policy responses for maintaining the size, motivation and productivity of the trained medical workforce. The research will provide a rigorous analysis of the decisions which underlie the workforce distribution and work patterns of doctors. The survey results will provide important information in support of future policy development and evaluation.The survey
The MABEL survey is being sent to all 56,000 doctors in Australia in May 2008, with those responding followed up for an initial four years. This includes GPs, private specialists, hospital doctors, and doctors in specialist training. First results will be available in late 2008.Funding
National Health and Medical Research Council. Health Services Research ProgramContact
Professor Anthony ScottMelbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne
Email: a.scott@unimelb.edu.au Dr. Catherine Joyce
Department of General Practice, Monash University
Email: Catherine.Joyce@med.monash.edu Professor John Humphreys
School of Rural Health, Monash University
Email: john.humphreys@med.monash.edu.au A/Professor Guyonne Kalb
Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social Research, The University of Melbourne
Email: g.kalb@unimelb.edu.au