The NSW-based GP will step into the role from November, with emergency specialist Dr Sarah Whitelaw to serve as vice president.
NSW GP Dr Michael Bonning has come out on top of what was a particularly heated AMA presidential race and will take up the job as one of Australia’s most public-facing medical advocates from November.
Dr Bonning beat out two fellow GPs who were vying for the title, Dr Anchita Karmakar and Associate Professor Magdalena Simonis.
His running-mate, vice president-elect Dr Sarah Whitelaw, beat out paediatric urologist Dr Paddy Dewan, upper limb surgeon Professor Ted Mah and endocrine surgeon Professor Owen Ung.
Dr Bonning and Dr Whitelaw would take over from current president and vice president duo Dr Danielle McMullen and Associate Professor Julian Rait at the beginning of November.
Related
In the interim, Dr Bonning told The Medical Republic that he would focus on preparing to “hit the ground running”.
“We’ve been spending a lot of our time talking with members and delegates and state and federal representatives, but [we will be] doing even more to deepen those relationships so that when we do start, we’re in the best possible position to take on the mantle of leading the organisation,” he said.
In terms of initiatives, Dr Bonning said the association’s ongoing campaign to modernise Medicare would remain at the front of his mind.
“Primary care can be the most efficient place to deliver many health interventions, and you want to put your funding where it’s going to do the most,” he said.
“Now, that may not mean new funding immediately, but I think there’s a very good case – through multiple levers and pathways – for continuing investment in general practice.
“Because there’s just there’s no other tap that the federal government, especially, can influence as much as general practice.”
As a former member of the AMA Council of Doctors in Training, Dr Bonning said workforce would be another particular area of focus.
“We have to address those concerns and also hold up a mirror to our profession … we need to take ownership of the problem of medical workforce and medical training, because otherwise we are selling a dream to medical students that that does not align with reality,” he said.
Dr Bonning also said he would continue to promote the value of doctor-led care.
“Care is being sold to people as a as a convenience, when in actual fact it needs to be about a system of care that delivers both quality and value for patients,” he said.
“Convenience, while being important, is not the be-all and end-all. State governments have really focused themselves almost solely on convenience.
“As a peak body covering all stages [of training], but also all specialties, [it’s on the AMA] to recognise the value of doctor doctor-led care.
“I had breakfast the morning after the election with two infectious disease physicians and had the discussion about antimicrobial resistance … and they have nothing to do with, say, pharmacy prescribing or other non-medical prescribing. It doesn’t affect their day job, except that it does.
“The growth and breadth of prescribing, especially of antibiotics, significantly affects their role and what they have to come up against on behalf of vulnerable patients out there.
“I think one of the things that a group like the AMA can do is mount a narrative that describes why and how we can live in a future that gives people genuine access [to care].”
