Professional development and careers
AMA Victoria’s professional development and careers team provide doctors with a variety of career, leadership, high-performance, professional development and impairment assessment training services designed to support doctors across their entire career lifecycle – from med student to retirement.
Our services are medically specific and include member benefit and coaching consults; coaching, professional development, and training programs; resources and education sessions. We support all AMA Members and non-members and our team is made up of highly experienced and accredited coaches with extensive knowledge of the health sector and the career journey of a doctor.
Our coaching consults/programs and training programs are available for a fee which is discounted considerably for AMA members.
Our services:
The ‘career call’ and ‘resume check-up’ consults are member benefits and are available to all AMA members (excluding students).
The ‘career health check’, ‘retirement-ready chat’ and ‘leader-check-in’ consults are also member benefits but at this stage are only available to AMA Victoria members (excluding students).
For students, we work hard to support you to navigate these as you journey through medical school and transition to intern. Click here to learn more about our free student membership and the services we offer.
Member benefits
- Career call »
The ‘career call’ service is member benefit for AMA Victoria members (excluding students). By scheduling a career call, you can engage with one of our career consultants (Zoom/telephone) for a fifteen-minute career discussion.
- Resume check-up »
The ‘resume check-up’ service is member benefit for AMA Victoria members (excluding students). By scheduling a ‘resume check-up’ session you can engage with one of our career consultants (Zoom/telephone) for a fifteen-minute consult to review your resume.
- Leader check-in »
- Career health check »
We recommend reviewing your career annually and we call this a ‘career health check’. It doesn’t have to be an onerous task and can be achieved by asking yourself a few questions which you then debrief with a qualified careers coach.
The leader check-in is a benefit of your AMA Victoria membership and takes the form of a 15-minute phone or zoom coaching conversation with one of our experienced leadership & professional coaches.
- Retirement ready chat »
By scheduling a retirement ready chat, you can engage with one of our career consultants (via telephone or Zoom) for a 15-minute discussion to explore your thoughts regarding planning for retirement, whether that means restructuring clinical or non-clinical time, closing a practice, or investigating alternate medical or non-medical pathways.
Careers
- Resumes, cover letters and applications »
Coaching can assist you to: Identify and achieve your career goals; to support you in making informed career decisions; and to assist in building capacity in areas essential to advancing your career.
- Interviews »
We support doctors at all stages of their career with interview preparation - from the intern application process, interviews for accredited training positions and colleges, through to interviews for senior leadership positions.
- Retirement »
Many doctors struggle to retire well. The reasons for this are often complex but issues of identity, deep immersion in a professional role, and a later retirement age are common. Because of this, AMA Victoria has designed 3 programs to help doctors identify their goals, gain personal insight and establish a new balance after retirement.
Leadership
- Leadership coaching consult »
AMA Victoria’s leadership coaching service provides confidential, goal-directed, and supportive conversations with an expert leadership coach. The purpose is to design individually tailored goals and action plans to support each person’s leadership development in their current role and context and support them to reach their goals.
High performance
- Professional coaching »
This program helps doctors identify their professional goals, gain personal insight & enhance their career potential using a combination of coaching, reflective practice, diagnostic tools & resources.
- Building your professional brand »
Our programs are designed to equip you with the skills and tools needed to build a strong professional brand at any stage of your career, so you can develop, progress, and achieve your professional goals.
Impairment Assessment Training
Testimonials and case studies
AMA Victoria’s Careers Advisory Service provides medically specific career management solutions. It assists members achieve professional goals through active career coaching and supported transition. If you are thinking about utilising the service or want to know more about how it can help you, these are the recent stories of three members.
Transitioning to sabbatical leave »
A senior doctor who held a number of executive roles at a major hospital had reached the point where the work was just not enjoyable or rewarding anymore. After many years of being in a position of leadership, the prospect of transitioning back into a research or lead clinical role where their focus could be on clinical medicine and patients, instead of budgets and management issues became very appealing. They were also keen to take a sabbatical to explore some research opportunities and to travel.
While taking a sabbatical is an entitlement, this doctor was concerned about how an extended break would impact on the workload of their team. They had also been discouraged from taking a sabbatical by their workplace.
Our careers advisors initially sat down with the doctor to unpack all the issues, discuss how to transition from their current role to the next and to determine the steps they needed to take to achieve their goals.
Over several sessions we investigated what the blocks – real and perceived – were to taking a sabbatical and to transitioning workload. An important shift achieved in these sessions was the authorisation to ask and take the sabbatical they were entitled to – this was granted and taken. The doctor also felt confident about their decision-making process to transition their career and to articulate this to others, which led to a role in clinical leadership and research.
Managing boundaries between home and work »
Doctors tend to take their jobs very seriously and some struggle to manage the boundary between home and work as result. They may struggle to find an ‘off’ button, which can be draining. Always being ‘on’ creates pressure which can often become more pronounced as the demands of their personal lives increase.
One particular doctor was facing just this problem. While taking work very seriously, their inability to manage the boundary and switch off was impacting their personal life and was taking a toll on their general wellbeing. Subsequently, they started to question whether clinical medicine was right for them long-term.
AMA Victoria’s career coaching service supported this doctor to clarify their thinking objectively and to assess what their options might be. We then explored what life beyond clinical medicine might look like and supported them in planning for this transition.
It was quite a lengthy process and we met many times over a 12-month period. Over that time we saw this doctor build confidence and clarity about their options and decision-making framework and reach a point where they became recharged, reenergised and ready to act. We then worked with them to redevelop the tools they needed to pursue alternate career pathways.
The doctor was successful in sourcing a non-clinical role as well as opportunities in research and is now on their way to realising their career aspirations in a new pathway.
Sourcing an IMG supervised role »
We had an overseas trained doctor come to us looking for assistance to increase their success in sourcing a supervised role in Australia. This international medical graduate (IMG) member had already approached the job market with full-force and had little success.
We sat down with them and quickly realised the problem was a common one shared by IMGs. Their presentation (both written and verbal) was simply not up to the standard expected by prospective employers. They also needed to revise their strategy and model of engagement with these prospective employers. There was lots of work to be done!
We worked with this doctor for more than 12 months on all of the areas we had identified which needed considerable work. After working very hard and taking on board all the advice we gave, the doctor came out of the process with two job offers. Both offers complied with the APHRA supervision requirements.
This doctor is now commencing their Australian medical career in 2018 and is well positioned to be successful in their professional endeavours. They now recognise the importance of continuing to spend time developing their skills to support their successful transition into the Australian health system and beginning their role as an HMO.
Our team
Your AMA Victoria coaches are here to help. Click to read each profile below.
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Mardi O’Keefe »
Director, Professional Development and Careers
Coach - Career, brand, organisation and high-performance
MARDI O'KEEFE
Director, Professional Development and Careers
Coach - Career, brand, organisation and high-performanceMardi O’Keefe is a career management and organisation development professional with 20 plus years of experience working in the corporate, government and health sectors. Mardi is a level 2 IECL certified organisational coach with 100’s of hours of professional coaching experience. She has spent the past 7 years building the AMA Victoria professional development and careers function. During this time, she has developed a range of leadership, professional & career coaching programs specifically designed for the medical profession, while also coaching 100’s of doctors to effectively navigate their careers and take up their professional roles. Mardi is experienced working with doctors from graduation to retirement, in all vocational areas and supports doctors operating at all levels within a health service hierarchy. Mardi has a BSc (Psych) and a MAppSci (Organisation Dynamics) and is a member of Group Relations Australia.
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Carolyn Speed »
Manager - Career Service
Coach - Career, brand, organisation and high-performance
CAROLYN SPEED
Manager - Career Service
Coach - Career, brand, organisation and high-performanceCarolyn Speed is a career management professional and executive coach with many years of experience coaching doctors across all stages of their career from student to retirement. Carolyn is a level 2 IECL certified organisational coach with hundreds of hours of professional coaching experience. She has extensive knowledge of the medical profession, with insight into training pathways, career progression and health services and a passion for supporting doctors through career transitions. Carolyn has been instrumental in the development of the AMA Victoria Medical Career Service including the implementation of interview preparation programs and retirement offerings specifically designed for the medical profession. She has a previous career as legal professional with diverse expertise in both the private and public sector as consultant and a senior lawyer. Carolyn has a BA (psych) and Llb (hons).
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Dr Anna Clark (PhD) »
Leadership coach and educator
DR ANNA CLARK (PhD)
Leadership coach and educatorAnna has a PhD in social psychology from the University of Melbourne and works as a leadership development consultant and coach designing and delivering leadership development programs and coaching in Europe, Singapore, and Australia. Prior to working in leadership development, Anna held academic positions in psychology and organisational behaviour departments in the Netherlands, France, and Australia. She has over 12 years’ experience coaching a range of emerging, middle, and senior leaders from both private and public sector organisations, including health and education. Anna currently lives in Melbourne and works as a leadership development consultant and coach designing and delivering executive education programs and coaching for a range of organisations and individuals around Australia. Anna specialises in supporting individuals to find authentic, purposeful, and realistic development goals and to then create and enact nuanced personal action plans to support their work toward the behavioural change they desire in a practical and sustainable way.
In her work with AMA Victoria, Anna has joined the Professional Development and Careers team to provide leadership development programs and one-on-one coaching for Doctors at all stages of their careers. Professional coaching provides a safe and objective developmental space for doctors to work on the current issues and challenges that they face in their day-to-day work, as well as in their professional work system.
Anna also writes regularly for AMA Victoria, publishing on leadership topics highly relevant to the complex care and collaborative leadership required in healthcare settings.
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Julia Earle »
Career and brand coach
JULIA EARLE
Career and brand coachJulia Earle is an expert in career development and talent management. She has over 20 years’ experience across a range of industry sectors including health and has a BA (psych) and post-graduate qualifications in career coaching. Julia has experience coaching individuals from students through to those approaching retirement and takes a client-centred, strengths-based approach to coaching. She has a passion for supporting professionals through career transition, especially as they seek opportunities to develop their expertise or consider pathway options. She also has extensive experience in recruitment and selection processes and supporting individuals to achieve their employment goals.
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Lisa Stockman »
Brand and style coach
LISA STOCKMAN
Brand and style coachLisa Stockman was born and raised in Melbourne Australia, and in her twenties lived in Italy and Japan. She studied a Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of Melbourne and Master of Professional Styling at Australian Style Institute.
She has worked in the fashion industry both as a Stylist and boutique owner for over 15 years and held global training roles in the retail sector. Her personal styling career began over a decade ago as a side hustle while owning a clothing boutique in Melbourne.
Today, she is brand coach & personal stylist to a diverse range of clients and specializes in working with people who are experiencing life-changing events such as gaining a job, taking the next step in their career, getting divorced, beginning to date, post-surgery, post baby, or getting ready for an event of a lifetime such as a wedding or anniversary.
Lisa uses her professional expertise and personal experience to inspire everyday individuals, executives and professionals to put themselves out there and allow themselves to be seen, heard and celebrated for who they choose to be.
- Loretta Hart »
Career and brand coach

LORETTA HART
Career and brand coach
Loretta Hart is an experienced careers and business coach. She is passionate about supporting doctors to build a strong brand that aligns with their values and plays to their strengths. With 15 years of experience in marketing, messaging, sales and business development, Loretta brings a fresh approach to guiding professionals to understand their point of difference.
With hundreds of hours of coaching Loretta is skilled in honing in on key issues, developing people’s confidence and ensuring they know the action that needs to be taken after each session.
Loretta has a BT (Primary), is fascinated by human behaviour and understands the blocks that tend to lead to procrastination and frustration.
Contact
If you need more information about AMA Victoria’s Career Advisory Service, contact our coaches between 9am – 5pm, Monday - Friday: (03) 9280 8722 or careersadvisor@amavic.com.au.
Terms and conditions
Read AMA Victoria's Professional Development and Careers Service T&Cs here.