AFOEM eBulletin - 10 March 2023
Planning is now well underway for the ATM which will be held in Brisbane from Friday 28th until Sunday 30th July. Trainees will be advised of details in the near future.
Accelerated silicosis was again a subject of media focus over recent weeks, initiated by an episode on ‘60 Minutes’. The ‘Last Gasp’ investigation from Nine newspapers shows damning evidence that workers continue to be exposed to silica dust at work and the crisis is uncontrolled. The timing was fortuitous as Australian jurisdictional Work Health and Safety Ministers were meeting the following week. The Media and Comms unit within the RACP succeeded in arranging a number of interviews with Dr Graeme Edwards as well as front page coverage on one of the daily papers on 27 February.
Although there are calls to ban engineered stone, accelerated silicosis is just the tip of the iceberg of dust causing harm to workers. Dust exposure which may cause silicosis and other diseases is common in many occupations across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand. We have previously had epidemics of asbestosis, mesothelioma and coal-workers pneumoconiosis. These dust diseases are testament to the inadequate work, health and safety systems in the jurisdictions.
We will continue to advocate for a national regulatory framework and enforcement plan, a national clinical occupational respiratory disease registry and a respiratory protection program including mandatory regular air monitoring of potentially dusty workplaces, and mandatory health surveillance of potentially exposed workers.
There remains a lack of health expertise in our regulatory organisations. SafeWork Australia requires access to occupational hygienists to advise on monitoring of workplaces, but also needs specialist occupational and environmental medicine expertise on health surveillance and health monitoring of workers as well as fitness for work. There is an urgent need to put ‘health’ back into work health and safety.
Some good news is that approval has finally been given to form the two working groups to progress the ‘Improving the health of healthcare workers’ project. Planning has commenced to hold the initial meetings of these groups.
Members need to be aware of important changes to CPD this year. There is a requirement to include a minimum of 25 hours of activities from across Category 2 – ‘Reviewing Performance’ and Category 3 – ‘Measuring Outcomes’ with a minimum of five hours in each of these categories.
There are also mandatory activities including an ‘annual conversation’ and creation of a ‘professional development plan‘. These cannot be left until the end of the year. Further details can be found at 2023 MyCPD Framework. The AFOEM VIC/TAS Committee organised an excellent webinar on 27 February where Mr Michael Pooley spoke on ‘CPD and AFOEM – Changes to CPD requirements’.
There is still a vacancy for a Victorian representative on the AFOEM Council. Details can be found at Expressions of Interest.
Finally, I would strongly urge you to vote as soon as possible for a Member Director in the RACP 2023 Board election. Voting instructions were emailed to all members on 3 March. I suggest reading the candidates’ information before voting. If you haven’t voted yet, why not do it now?
Dr Warren Harrex
AFOEM President
AFOEM Annual Training Meeting – save the date
We are pleased to announce the 2023 AFOEM Annual Training Meeting (ATM) will be held in Brisbane Queensland from Friday, 28 July to Sunday 30 July 2023. Registrations opening soon.
Resources from the 2022 AFOEM ATM can be found on the website with recordings available on Medflix.
AFOEM examinations – applications opening soon
Applications for all eligible trainees (who have met the training program requirements) for the September and November 2023 examinations will open from Monday, 1 May 2023 to Friday, 12 May 2023.
The 2023 AFOEM exam dates are:
- Stage A Written Exam – Saturday, 9 September 2023
- Stage B Written Exam – Saturday, 9 and Sunday, 10 September 2023
- Stage B Practical Exam – Saturday, 18 November 2023 (an additional date of Sunday, 19 November 2023 may be required depending on the number of eligible candidates).
To apply, visit the examinations webpage, download an application form, and email it to faculty.examinations@racp.edu.au by 5pm on Friday, 12 May 2023.
AFOEM Written Examinations
Stage A and B Written Exams will be delivered in exam centres through paper-based testing in capital cities across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, selected at our discretion.
AFOEM Stage B Practical Examination
The delivery of the Stage B Practical Exam is being determined by the RACP and AFOEM Faculty Assessment Committee (FAC). More information will be available closer to the scheduled exam date.
If you have questions about your eligibility to sit the examination, please contact the Advanced Training Education Officer at occenvmed@racp.edu.au.
For more information regarding the application process, email faculty.examinations@racp.edu.au or visit the examinations webpage.
The 2023 RACP AFOEM Educational Development Grant worth up to $10,000 is just one of the grants offered in this round. This grant can go towards gaining new technical expertise, training at an institution, or providing further educational opportunities for a group in fields and competencies relevant to occupational and environmental medicine.
Other Educational Development Grants available include:
- Skilled Medical Scholarship for Advancement of Indigenous Health
- Aotearoa New Zealand Educational Development Grant
Applications for Round 1 of 2023 open Monday, 27 March 2023.
Find out more.
AFOEM President Dr Warren Harrex, RACP expert spokesperson Dr Graeme Edwards, and respiratory physician Professor Deborah Yates recently highlighted the continuing risks of accelerated silicosis and dust diseases faced by workers across Australia.
As part of the Lead Fellows for Accelerated Silicosis Group, with representatives from TSANZ and RANCR, they have been vigorously pressing for nationally consistent reforms including support for improved medical engagement since 2018.
Recent media coverage includes: 60 minutes, Channel 7 News, the Sydney Morning Herald and RACP media statements.
Find out more.
In March, there are some great learning opportunities, which are free for AFOEM fellows and trainees:
#itswhatyouknow – Nurse Focus Webinar
Chemical hazards in the workplace: Emergency rinsing of chemical splashes
Presenter: Natalie Stephens, Brand Manager - Prevor / Amare Safety
Date: Wednesday 15 March 2023, 7pm (AEDT) / 6pm (AEST) / 9pm (NZDT)
#itswhatyouknow – WA Branch Webinar
Conservative management of coronary artery disease: Medical guidelines for Occupational Physicians
Presenter: Professor David Playford, Cardiologist
Date: Wednesday 22 March 2023, 6pm (AWST) / 9pm (AEDT) / 8pm (AEST)
Find out more and register
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We are pleased to announce that call for papers is now open!
The theme for the ANZSOM Annual Scientific Meeting - From Ramazzini to Robots: the Future of Work, Health and Humanity - will explore what’s in store for the occupational medicine field, with a positive and clear nod to the past. Registrations open early April.
Find out more.
This is a friendly reminder to log in to MyCPD and complete your 2022 MyCPD submission by Friday, 31 March 2023. Please record a minimum of 100 CPD credits for last calendar year (1 January to 31 December 2022) or contact the CPD Team to discuss a CPD exemption for 2022.
Remember, your MyCPD record is open for 2023. It is recommended you record activities as you go.
Further details about the MyCPD framework are available in the following handbooks, including changes to CPD requirements for 2023, and the transition from CPD credits to CPD hours:
2022 MyCPD Framework / 2023 MyCPD Framework
As of 1 January 2023, all Australian medical practitioners need to select a CPD home.
There are plenty of benefits to completing your CPD through us. You can use our MyCPD platform to record your CPD activities, access helpful resources which are relevant to your scope of practice, take advantage of peer review opportunities on the RACP Online Community (ROC), and contact our CPD Team for tailored support.
My RACP. MyCPD Home.
Find out more.
We are pleased to release our new Member Health and Wellbeing Strategic Plan 2023-2026 which was developed by the Member Health and Wellbeing Committee (MHWC).
The MHWC developed the Plan using the following principles:
- The wellbeing of members is essential in all stages of their careers and lives.
- The individual, our College, and practice environments have a collective responsibility for member wellbeing.
- Wellbeing must be embedded into all College activities and culture, and modelled by leadership.
- Our College will advocate for and enable evidence-based practices to promote wellbeing.
We encourage you to read the Plan and look forward to rolling out the initiatives in the plan to better support you.
Ep92: Data-driven practice improvement
Medical and administrative records are normally collected to help the management of patients or institutions, but it can be time consuming to extract metrics useful for practice improvement.
However, these analytics can also give an overview of case load and performance, and draw attention to cases that stood out from the trend. This could help clinicians reflect and improve, and even act as a shortcut to meeting the new CPD requirements.
Guests
- Professor Tim Shaw (University of Sydney; Research Director, Digital Health Cooperative Research Centre)
- Dr David Rankin (Director Clinical Governance and Informatics, Cabrini Health)
Please visit the Pomegranate Health web page for a transcript and supporting references. Login to MyCPD to record prefilled learning activity. Subscribe to new episode email alerts or search for ‘Pomegranate Health’ in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, or any podcasting app.
By completing your ‘my work profile’ you will provide us with valuable insights which we can use to make evidence-based and informed advocacy decisions for improving workforce planning. All you need to do is log in to My RACP, click ‘update my work profile’ and answer a few questions about your work activities.
Complete ‘my work profile’.
When you join the RACP Online Community (ROC), you can post questions and start discussions with other members. But did you know that the ROC also features a Member Directory and Special Interest Directory designed to help you find and connect with your colleagues?
The easy-to-use directories allow you to search by name, location, Division, Faculty, Chapter and/or specialty and are the perfect way to chat directly with other members and expand your network of contacts across the membership.
Log in to the ROC to connect with your peers.
The Royal Australasian College of Physicians publishes notices of events and courses as a service to members. Such publication does not constitute endorsement or mandating of any such events or courses.
Go to the
events list at any time to see what events are coming up.
AFOEM contact details
AFOEM Faculty enquiries (including Council and committees):
LynFay Shapiro
AFOEM Executive Officer
Email: afoem@racp.edu.au
AFOEM Education and Training enquiries:
Education Officer
Phone: +61 2 8247 6268
Email: occenvmed@racp.edu.au
AFOEM Examination enquiries:
Examination Coordinator, Assessment Services
Email: faculty.examinations@racp.edu.au
AFOEM training site accreditation inquiries:
Site Accreditation Unit
Email: accreditation@racp.edu.au
AFOEM CPD enquiries:
Email: mycpd@racp.edu.au