Dr Anna Harris, Centre for Health and Society, Melbourne School of Population Health
Thesis title: 'Overseas doctors in Australian hospitals: an ethnographic study of how degrees of difference are negotiated in medical practice'

'This is an exceptional thesis, and one which I read with great pleasure—indeed, I read it twice simply because it was so rich with ideas and such an enjoyable literary experience…,' – an excerpt from the comments received from one of Dr Anna Harris' examiners upon reading her PhD.

'It's rare to receive such comments for a PhD thesis,' Anna Harris' PhD supervisor, Associate Professor Marilys Guillemin explains – 'Anna's thesis is beautiful and she's injected her creativity into it.' Dr Anna Harris was one of five recipients of the Dean's Award for Excellence in a PhD thesis, 12 March 2012. Her sister, Chelsea Harris, a recent graduate from the University of Melbourne’s Master of Art Curatorship, accepted the award on her behalf, as Anna is currently based at the ESRC Centre for Genomics in Society, at the University of Exeter, UK.

Dr Harris' thesis tells the story of the hurdles faced by overseas doctors working in Australia, including the struggle to be recognised and the challenges of adjusting to local practice when they start working in Australian hospitals.

Anna spent 12 months in two outer-metropolitan Melbourne hospitals with over 30 overseas-trained doctors, listening to their experiences and documenting their stories. Although these doctors had come from Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East, similar themes arose in their stories. Dr Harris discovered that one of the major difficulties encountered by overseas-trained doctors was the lack of agreement about what is required to be a doctor in Australia. She discovered that overseas-trained doctors were finding it difficult to obtain accreditation due to the multiple examinations that they are required to sit. Also, due to Australia's unique health workforce issues, many overseas-trained doctors are required to work in isolated rural or outback locations. Often coming from poor countries with their families, upon arrival in Australia they are confronted with great challenges. Dr Harris found overseas-trained doctors, many of whom had held senior positions in their home country, were working as nursing assistants, laboratory technicians and cleaners in hospitals, as they waited to receive accreditation. In her thesis, Anna Harris surmises that in this process, time and skills are lost and expertise is wasted. She raises the question: what can we do to support overseas-trained doctors to negotiate the overly complex registration system?
    
Dr Anna Harris studied Medicine at the University of Tasmania, before heading to the United Kingdom where she worked as a locum. It was her own experience as an overseas-trained doctor in the UK combined with her interest in the visual arts that lead her to pursue a Masters in Social Health at the Centre for Health and Society at the University of Melbourne, and later to undertake an ethnographic study of overseas doctors in Australian hospitals for her PhD.

Anna Harris' findings have been published in academic journals and media to raise awareness of the issues and to attempt to change policy. Her research was also translated into a booklet for overseas doctors and used as the basis for a number of funded support programs.

By Florienne Loder, Science Writer, MDHS Faculty Research Unit