Crackdown on surgeon title doesn’t go far enough: AMA
Allowing podiatric surgeons to continue to use the title will mislead patients, says AMA president Professor Steve Robson
The plan to restrict use of the title ‘surgeon’ to just three medical specialties should extend to a crackdown on podiatric surgeons, the AMA says.
Late last year, state and territory health ministers agreed to make ‘surgeon’ a so-called protected title, in order to severely curtail the number of doctors calling themselves ‘cosmetic surgeons’.
The plan, once rolled out through legislation, would mean only doctors with specialist registration in surgery, obstetrics and gynaecology, and ophthalmology would be able to refer to themselves as surgeons.
Doctors who wrongly called themselves surgeons would risk a $60,000 fine or up to three years’ imprisonment, based on AHPRA’s existing rules on protected titles.
