AFOEM eBulletin - 18 October 2024
Two major reviews have commenced in the RACP that potentially affect AFOEM. Dr Tony Gill, the President-elect of AFPHM, is the representative of the Faculties on the Governance Advisory Group. Dr Kalesh Seevnarain, our current Chair of the Faculty Training Committee, is the AFOEM representative on the Education Governance Working Group. These are important reviews as AFOEM scope of practice, training environments, workplace supervision, working environments, and our stakeholders and patients are markedly different from those in hospitals. Although professional qualities are common across all physician groups, these significant differences need to be appreciated and continuously emphasised within the RACP. Education and training policies and procedures applicable to hospital-based physician training are mostly inappropriate for our Faculty.
I attended a very successful forum held by the Lung Foundation of Australia (LFA) in Melbourne on 9 October to discuss priorities for research into occupational lung cancer. The forum was opened by the Victorian Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas MP, who expressed her strong support for addressing occupational respiratory diseases. There was wide representation from many stakeholders, and as expected, many different perspectives on priorities for research. Professor Tim Driscoll is the very capable Chair of the LFA Research Committee that now has the challenging task of reviewing the recommendations. While on the issue of occupational respiratory diseases, I have co-signed a letter with PRACP to the Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations requesting specialist medical involvement in the Asbestos and Silicosis Safety and Eradication Council.
I was recently contacted by staff from Safe Work Australia who are planning a survey on health monitoring. I stated that although there is excellent guidance, my impression was that health monitoring was generally poorly implemented. I suggested that mandated health monitoring was based on historical exposures and ignored emerging workplace exposures. Workplace and worker exposures, training and PPE information is rarely recorded, and there is too much reliance on investigations that are rarely useful in the absence of clinical disease. In addition, as most health monitoring is conducted by private providers, this makes it difficult to retrieve the required 30 years of records if required. I suggested that a central repository for storage and retrieval of health monitoring records would be advantageous.
There has been an excellent response from Fellows requesting to be listed on our 'Find an Expert' directory on the AFOEM webpage. Faculty staff have been liaising with the Digital Experience Team who have made excellent suggestions on redesigning this listing.
As the vacancy for the Chair of Health Benefits of Good Work® has not yet been finalised, the forum proposed for November in Sydney has been postponed until next year.
It is now the time of the year for nominations for the President’s awards to be submitted. Many worthy members have contributed to policy and advocacy, education and training, and trainee commitment. Please take this opportunity to submit a nomination to acknowledge those whose service deserves to be recognised. The documents for nominations are available on the website.
Finally, I will be attending the ANZSOM Annual Scientific Meeting in Perth in the next few days and look forward to celebrating occupational medicine’s 40 years as a speciality.
Dr Warren Harrex
AFOEM President
Nominate a colleague to recognise their outstanding contributions to the Faculty in one of the following areas:
- Education, training and assessment
- Policy and advocacy
- Trainee commitment
Nominations open 1 October 2024. See the website for more details and to nominate.
RACP Indigenous Health Scholarships
The Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is proud to offer the Indigenous Australian and Māori Health Scholarship for Occupational and Environmental Medicine as part of the RACP Indigenous Health Scholarship Program for 2025.
The program aims to support those medical graduates and current trainees of the RACP who identify as Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander or Māori on their chosen career path to becoming a physician.
Scholarships available for 2025:
- College Indigenous Australian and Māori Health Scholarship
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Scholarship
Applications close 30 November 2024. For more information, visit the RACP Foundation website.
The AFOEM Essay Prize is open to medical students or interns in their first year after graduation. The prize is awarded for demonstrated excellence through essay, research project or assignment on occupational or environmental health.
Applications close 31 October 2024. See the webpage for more details.
Join ANZSOM for an exploration of the current occupational health trends at this year's event on 20 to 23 October 2024 in Perth, Western Australia. With the theme "Innovate, Integrate, Inspire," it will navigate the evolving landscape of occupational medicine, showcasing latest industry innovations, promoting integration across sectors, and inspiring new approaches to shape the future of our field.
Can’t make it to Perth?
Don't worry! ANZSOM's 2024 Annual Scientific Meeting will be a hybrid event, giving delegates the choice of attending in person or virtually from wherever they find themselves.
Great value CPD
Priced at just $450 for ANZSOM/AFOEM members and $550 for non-members, with 23 sessions streamed live. All 38 sessions at the conference will be video recorded and accessible to delegates for six-months post conference.
Topics include: burnout, obesity, diabetes, dust diseases, sleep apnea, plus so much more.
Register, view the program, or find out more on the ANZSOM ASM website.
Not an ANZSOM member?
Click here to join ANZSOM
Click here to subscribe to ANZSOM news
Fellows are invited to join the HANSANZ Register. This is the place to demonstrate your competence to practise as a qualified health and safety adviser in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Further questions? Email AoNZ_AFOEM@racp.org.nz
Don’t miss out: Dive into work health and safety with nearly 60 engaging sessions to choose from.
View the program or register your interest.
Need assistance? Call 1300 366 322 or email wstinfo@justice.tas.gov.au
Registrations for Occupational and Environmental Medicine (OEM) Advanced Training rotations, commencing in January 2025, are due on Saturday, 30 November 2024.
Current trainees need to apply for approval of their training every year. Trainees must nominate eligible supervisors and submit an Annual Prospective Training application form.
In 2025, all OEM Advanced Trainees will continue to follow PREP program requirements as outlined in the current handbook.
Don't forget to book your spot at the South Australian Annual Scientific Meeting 2024 (SA ASM): 'Innovation in healthcare: back to the future' on Saturday, 2 November 2024 at the National Wine Centre of Australia in Adelaide.
This year’s program is designed to inspire your professional growth, featuring experts in vaccines, wellbeing, health innovation, and artificial intelligence, along with local and internationally recognised pioneers in using animal venom for groundbreaking medical treatments. Learn from Dr Tabitha Healey on Beating burnout - Practical strategies for prioritising your wellbeing, by understanding the organisational and personal interventions you can make to improve your wellbeing to practice safely and sustainably.
Program highlights:
- Innovation in Toxinology: Professor Glenn King; Associate Professor Julian White AM
- Artificial Intelligence (AI): Christopher Foster-McBride; Adjunct Professor Malcolm Pradhan; Dr Andrew Booth, Dr Shrirajh Satheakeerthy and Associate Professor Stephen Bacchi
- Immunisations and Vaccinations: Professor Helen Marshall AM; Associate Professor Flor M.Munoz
- SA Trainee Research Awards
- ASM dinner featuring a spectacular performance presented by State Opera South Australia.
Register now
This podcast follows the case of a 48-year-old male with a three-month history of diarrhoea and associated lymphadenopathy. A complex constellation of symptoms accompanies this presenting complaint, along with a key radiological finding that enabled the treating team to arrive at the correct diagnosis. Can you arrive at the correct diagnosis before the treating team? This case was managed at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and is presented by Dr Andrew Vanlint from the Northern Adelaide Local Health Network and University of Adelaide.
Guests
Dr Andrew Vanlint FRACP AFRACMA (Northern Adelaide Local Health Network and University of Adelaide
Associate Professor Stephen Bacchi (Lyell McEwin Hospital; University of Adelaide)
Please visit the Pomegranate Health web page for a transcript and supporting references. Login to MyCPD to record listening and reading as a prefilled learning activity. Subscribe to new episode email alerts or search for ‘Pomegranate Health’ in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox or any podcasting app.
Please send any questions or ideas to podcast@racp.edu.au
New and amended Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) listings are available here. This information relates to the administration of these listings by Services Australia.
For further information on broader PBS changes, please visit the PBS website
Have your say. Help us shape your future conference experience.
RACP Congress has been postponed for 2025. This break means we have the opportunity to renew our flagship event to better meet your needs – but we need to hear from you via our survey.
Your feedback is essential to help us tailor this event to better align with member interests and preferences. It will guide us in developing a flagship event that not only meets, but exceeds your expectations.
The survey closes on Sunday, 27 October 2024.
Complete the survey.
You’ve told us that you need your College to be more responsive and supportive. We’ve listened to your feedback and we’re establishing a new Member Support Centre to help you navigate your College, improve enquiry response and resolution times and better support your needs. Thank you for your feedback – it helps us improve
By completing your ‘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 your ‘work profile’
Save on all your favourite lifestyle and service brands from leading retailers across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand – with RACP Benefits. Our lifestyle benefits portal offers you exclusive discounts and genuine savings on items in a range of popular categories. To celebrate the launch of RACP Benefits, we have some great offers for you to explore.
So log in today and take advantage of your RACP Benefits
The RACP is seeking your feedback on gaps and opportunities for improvement in the College Learning Series (CLS). We also need your help to identify exemplar lectures. Tell us which CLS lecture/s you liked and why. Your feedback will help future presenters deliver high quality, engaging lectures that meet your needs and expectations.
Did you know that you can now update your address details online? Simply log in to MyRACP and go to 'Edit my details'.
Visit the RACP website to view more Expressions of Interest
AFOEM contact details
AFOEM Faculty enquiries (including Council and committees):
Jane Konjevic
AFOEM Executive Officer
Email: afoem@racp.edu.au
Aotearoa NZ AFOEM office:
Email: AoNZ_AFRM@racp.org.nz
AFOEM Education and Training enquiries:
Education Officer
Email: occenvmed@racp.edu.au
AFOEM Examination enquiries:
Examination Coordinator, Assessment and Selection Unit
Email: examinations@racp.edu.au
AFOEM training site accreditation enquiries:
Site Accreditation Unit
Email: accreditation@racp.edu.au
AFOEM CPD enquiries:
Email: mycpd@racp.edu.au