AMD eBulletin – September 2025
A message from your President
Hello and kia ora,
While there are issues being worked through at Board level, within AMD we are committed to ensuring business-as-usual is continuing within our Division. Please find relevant updates below.
AMD Leadership and Management Workshop
The upcoming 2025 AMD Leadership and Management Workshop will be held in Te Whanganui-a-Tara | Wellington on 15 and 16 November 2025. The program group has developed an outstanding program tailored for AMD members in the early to mid-stages of their careers who are seeking to develop or step into leadership opportunities. I’d like to thank Fiona Thompson and Janak de Zoysa for their significant input in leading the program group this year. We warmly welcome members from both Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia to attend and benefit from this shared learning experience. This workshop will be an excellent opportunity to build confidence, strengthen leadership skills and connect with colleagues. I strongly encourage members to take advantage of this valuable leadership event which will include a media training workshop and sessions on cultural competency, clinical governance and the physician-leader. Secure your spot now for the AMD Leadership Workshop.
RACP Fee Reduction Eligibility
I’d like to remind all members that the RACP has a range of fee reductions and exemptions available for annual training, exam and subscription fees for circumstances including reduced income, trainees in research roles, and overseas members. I encourage all members to review the RACP fees page to determine whether they are eligible for a fee reduction or exemption and access the relevant forms on the website.
AMD Council meeting
The AMD Council held its second meeting of the year recently, with most members attending in person at the College’s Sydney office. At its meeting, AMD Council endorsed a proposal to add two new representatives from the Māori Health Committee and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Committee. Once this change to the AMD Council By-law is formally approved, these appointments will strengthen Indigenous representation on AMD Council and ensure their views are included in discussions and decision-making.
During this meeting there was also robust discussion about how we can advocate for and support existing initiatives in regard to workforce advocacy, member wellbeing and trainee support. As your representatives, we want to amplify relevant concerns and push for improvements that make a tangible impact. I encourage you to get in contact with us via adult.med@racp.edu.au to raise any issues or share your feedback. Our next AMD Executive Committee will next meet on 30 September to discuss key priorities, next steps for the AMD Leadership and Management Workshop and to look to advocate further for our members.
Chapter update
The AChAM Committee recently hosted the International Medicine in Addiction Conference at the International Convention Centre in Sydney with over 450 attendees from RACP, RACGP and RANZCP across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
If you have any feedback, questions, or comments for me or the AMD Council, please reach out through our secretariat at adult.med@racp.edu.au.
Professor Brian Wood
President
Adult Medicine Division
AChSHM President’s Post
Hello and kia ora,
The Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine Committee and the Training Committee, Sexual Health Medicine have recently collaborated with the Education, Learning and Assessment teams to support current Advanced Trainees. An update to the wording in the PREP Handbook to clarify requirements for reproductive health has been approved. Once implemented, information will be sent to all trainees and supervisors.
I would like to welcome Associate Professor Vincent Cornelisse as the AChSHM President-elect, filling a casual vacancy, to end in May 2026. Vincent currently works in public practice on the NSW North Coast. He has a PhD in sexual health epidemiology and a strong interest in research, including his current work on anal cancer screening services. He has been a member of the AChSHM committee for several years as an elected member, and I look forward to working closely with him over the next year. As this is a casual vacancy, the President-elect position will be advertised again in the 2026 election cycle for a two-year term.
We are also seeking Expressions of Interest for a Fellow representative on the AChSHM Committee. I strongly encourage you to nominate yourself or a colleague and share with your networks to ensure that the AChSHM Committee can continue our important work into 2026 and beyond.
The Chapter continues to receive support from the College’s Policy and Advocacy team to progress initiatives from the Chapter Committee’s work plan. We have had a strong focus on HIV-related advocacy, with a draft position statement on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) soon to be submitted for College-wide endorsement, and ongoing advocacy about the importance of HIV clinical indicator testing.
We have also been promoting the availability of AChSHM awards, scholarships and prizes, several of which will be awarded at the 2026 AChSHM Annual Scientific Meeting on 21 March 2026.
Looking ahead, the Committee is planning for future work plan activities, where we can support Chapter members and effectively advocate for better health outcomes. This may include further work around the syphilis epidemic and impact in the antenatal space, workforce attraction and retention and support for Indigenous doctors working in Sexual Health Medicine.
If you have an initiative or issue you feel is important for the Committee to address, please contact us through our secretariat at shmed@racp.edu.au.
For updates on AChSHM submissions, position statements, and media, please visit the Chapter webpage.
The next AChSHM Committee meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, 15 October via Zoom.
Clinical Professor Louise Owen
President, Australasian Chapter of Sexual Health Medicine
AChPM President’s Post
Hello and kia ora.
I would like to welcome our newly appointed Committee members:
- AChPM President-elect: Dr Emily Chang
- AChPM Trainee Representative: Dr Elizabeth Brookes
Both members have been appointed for casual vacancies until May 2026, with these positions to be advertised in the 2026 RACP election cycle.
The annual Spirituality Workshop is being planned for later this year. Spirituality is an important part of the palliative care practice and is a vital skill for Advanced Trainees in palliative medicine. The four virtual sessions will be held over four concurrent weeks.
Webinars are currently scheduled to be held from4.30pm to 6pm AEDT on the below dates:
- Self-Awareness - Tuesday, 11 November 2025
- Development of the spiritual dimension in health care - Tuesday, 18 November 2025
- Love, meaning, and transcendence - Tuesday, 25 November 2025
- Spiritual assessment, forgiveness and self-care - Tuesday, 2 December 2025
Workshop places are strictly limited to 33 participants. The registration link for the expression of interest to attend is available to all Advanced Trainees in palliative medicine; however, Fellows are also welcome to register. Expressions of interest will close on Friday, 17 October 2025.
The AChPM Committee has sent a letter to the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing (DoHDA) seeking a meeting to engage with the development and implementation of the Support at Home Program, particularly in relation to the End-of-Life (EOL) Pathway. I am awaiting to hear if the DoHDA will accept the meeting request.
The Training Committee in Palliative Medicine submitted an application to the AChPM Committee to add a new eligible medical college for the Chapter entry stream in palliative medicine. The AChPM has approved the Division of Rural Hospital Medicine, Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners, as an eligible medical college. This change is expected to help attract more trainees into palliative medicine.
The next draft of the Youth Appropriate Health Care (YAHC) position statement has been developed by the YAHC Working Group members and the Youth Advisory Group. This will be open for consultation in the next few months.
I would like to invite trainees and Fellows to consider joining the Australia and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM). ANZSPM promotes palliative medicine and advocates for those who work in the field.
The next AChPM Committee meeting is scheduled for Monday, 24 November, and will be held in person in Sydney. If you have any feedback, questions, or concerns for the Committee, please feel free to reach out through the Chapter secretariat at PallMed@racp.edu.au.
Dr Gauri Gogna
President, Australasian Chapter of Palliative Medicine
Hello and kia ora,
I would like to thank all of you who responded to our recent survey about Pathways to Specialist Fellowships in addiction medicine. We received a wide variety of opinions and perspectives and there was overwhelming support (84 per cent) for the Chapter to continue its efforts to establish a training pathway leading to FRACP in addiction medicine. Many of you sent thoughtful comments about various matters we will need to consider. The survey results were reviewed by the AChAM Committee during its recent meeting on 27 August and efforts to pursue these pathways were endorsed. I have also presented a summarised version of these results to key RACP stakeholders, as well as the Training Committee in Addiction Medicine, which has indicated in principle support for these efforts, and at the RACP Members Meeting at the IMiA Conference on 30 August. There is still much work to be done to move this forward, but I hope to be able to share further updates about our progress soon.
I would also like to recognise the substantial contribution of the AChAM Committee members for their contributions during the recent in-person Committee meeting in Sydney. The agenda for the meeting covered several major issues the Chapter is progressing. This includes advocacy work for an update to the Australian opioid guidelines. The AChAM Committee received an update on the New Curriculum Implementation, which will commence in 2026. In line with the updated training curriculum, the Committee is also continuing to advocate for MCNZ Vocational Scope of Practice recognition for Addiction Medicine.
There are ongoing workforce pressures in Aotearoa New Zealand, with rural clinics chronically understaffed, so seeking MCNZ recognition of our specialty is more important than ever. We have been working with RACP staff to scope out resourcing requirements for a potential MCNZ Scope of Practice Recognition application in early 2026. Our new Aotearoa NZ representative, Dr Vicki Macfarlane, has also been working with local stakeholders across government and our psychiatry colleagues, to seek their vote of support for such an application.
IMiA 2025 Conference
The International Medicine in Addiction (IMiA) 2025 Conference took place from 29 to 31 August at the International Convention Centre in Sydney. The RACP was the lead convenor of this conference, and I would like to thank all AChAM members and our colleagues from RANZCP and RACGP who participated – we had over 450 attendees in total.
International keynote speakers Dr Lorenzo Leggio and Dr Kathleen Page travelled great distances to share insights on topical initiatives. Over the three days, delegates also heard from dozens of expert speakers, panellists, and workshop facilitators on subjects ranging from substance use and comorbidity management to harm reduction, novel treatments, and replacement therapies.
A highlight was the tri-specialty panel discussion on Working Effectively with First Nations People, which explored a wide range of themes, including the importance of partnering with Indigenous colleagues and patient communities.
I would like to congratulate our IMiA Program Committee members on such a successful event, as well as our AChAM Prize recipients who received their certificates during the conference. I would also like to thank Dr Douglas Brown and Dr Kate Senior for their work organising the recent Trainee Day which was held at the RACP Sydney office on 28 August, prior to the IMiA conference.
AChAM Committee updates
We welcome new members to the AChAM Committee, following an amendment to the AChAM Committee By-law to ensure all jurisdictions have a local representative:
- ACT Branch Lead Convenor: Dr Michael Tedeschi
- SA Branch Lead Convenor: Dr Kate Senior
- TAS Branch Lead Convenor: Dr Nicolle Ait Khelifa
The next Committee meeting is planned to be held on Friday, 24 October 2025.
If you have any feedback, questions, or comments for me or the Committee, please feel free to reach out via our secretariat at AddictionMed@racp.edu.au
Professor John Saunders
President, Australasian Chapter of Addiction Medicine
Awards, scholarships and prizes
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Nominate a colleague for a College award. Don’t miss the chance to celebrate excellence.
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