AFOEM eBulletin - 31 October 2023
I had the pleasure of meeting many of our members during the glorious Spring weather in Canberra this week at the ANZSOM annual scientific meeting. There were around 200 attendees from many occupational health professionals as well as a number of virtual attendees. The excellent attendance is a reflection of the relationship that has developed between the Faculty and ANZSOM over recent years. It also reflects the value of attending conferences that enable networking and where scientific presentations are related to day-to-day responsibilities. So we extend our congratulations to Dr Dominic Yong and his team for delivering such a high-standard meeting.
The theme of the conference was ‘From Ramazzini to Robots’. The keynote address was given by Professor Paul Kelly, the Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer. He expressed his amazement at the insights shown by Bernardino Ramazzini over three centuries ago. Professor Sim gave the Hugh Denehy Oration and engaged the audience with his characteristic brilliant academic perspective of occupational medicine – past, present and future. Attendees were privileged to be able to have behind-the-scenes access during worksite visits to several of the national institutions in Canberra which were of great interest to many Fellows and trainees. Site visits included the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australian Maritime Safety Authority, Australian Federal Police Forensics Facility, Australian Transport Safety Bureau and Pacific Stone, the region’s largest supplier of stone benchtops.
We are also grateful for the attendance of the RACP Marketing and Communications team who interviewed a few AFOEM members about their experiences in occupational medicine. These will be used to develop short promotional videos to assist in informing doctors of what is involved with a career in occupational medicine.
I am delighted to advise that Dr Rob McDonald now has an official appointment as Adjunct Professor (Practice) in the Department of Planetary Health, School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, at Monash University. Rob has been active at Monash University as a member of the Strategic Advisory Council to the Turner Institute for Brain and Mental Health as well as supporting the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health and School of Psychological Services.
In other appointments, Dr Nicola Emslie and Dr Catherine Kelaher have been appointed to the ‘Value of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Physicians in Healthcare’ Working Group. In addition, Dr Alexandra Muthu has been appointed Chair of the ‘Improving the Health of Healthcare Workers’ Working Group.
Dr Rod Nicholson is now Chair of the AoNZ AFOEM Committee, taking over from Dr Geraint Emrys who has provided valuable leadership over the past six years.
The first Occupational Lung Disease Research Forum was held in Melbourne on 9 October,2023 with a broad range of input from many stakeholders from various disciplines. Professor Malcolm Sim, Dr Tim Driscoll and Dr Graeme Edwards are all members of the Research Group. There was broad consensus on the areas of prevention, treatment and support from which the research questions can be developed. Of course, obtaining funding for the desired research will need to be addressed.
The South Australian Government has sought nominations for three nominees from RACP/AFOEM to its Return to Work Minister’s Advisory Committee. The Committee includes representatives from the medical profession, employee associations, employer associations, and self-insured employers.
There is a link in the ROC to the interview with Dr Barry Gilbert. Barry was awarded a well-deserved ANZSOM President’s award at the conference in Canberra for his services to ANZSOM over many years.
Also, a reminder to complete your CPD. Several members have advised me they have already completed their CPD requirements for this year. I would take the opportunity to congratulate and thank the staff in the CPD team who developed the ability to automatically upload committee and conference attendances to MyCPD. This has been a most welcome and valuable time-saver.
Finally, and sadly, I have to advise that our brilliant and hard-working Executive Officer, LynFay Shapiro, has decided to move to another organisation in mid-November. I am sure you will join me in thanking her for her unwavering dedication and support to AFOEM and the ATM. We wish her all the best in her future endeavours.
Dr Warren Harrex
AFOEM President
This series provides insight into the careers of retired and actively serving occupational physicians. The interview series supports a collaboration amongst our peers to develop projects for compiling the history of occupational medicine. On this occasion, Dr Farhan Shahzad had the pleasure of meeting Dr Barry Gilbert. Read the interview on the ROC.
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 close Thursday, 30 November 2023. See the website for more details and to nominate.
The Australasian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine is proud to offer the 2024 Indigenous Australian and Māori Health Scholarship for Occupational and Environmental Medicine as part of the RACP Indigenous Health Scholarship Program.
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. The Scholarships provide a funded pathway through Basic, Advanced, Faculty or Chapter training in Australia and/or Aotearoa New Zealand.
Several scholarships are available for 2024. Applications close Thursday, 30 November 2023. For more information, visit the RACP Foundation webpage.
Support your trainees by watching them compete at regional events. The best presenters selected at each event are invited to present at an RACP event in 2024. Visit the RACP Trainee Research Awards webpage for event details.
The NSW/ACT Branch of ANZSOM and AFOEM is pleased to announce that the end of year meeting will be held at the Royal Automobile Club of Australia on Wednesday, 6 December. The evening will include refreshments and canapes, followed by a two-course dinner and a presentation by Dr Louise Tulloh, on 'Women, sport, exercise: from health to performance'.
Add it to your diaries now. Registrations will open soon.
From 1 November 2023, the shingles vaccine Shingrix® will replace Zostavax® on the National Immunisation Program (NIP) for the prevention of shingles and post-herpetic neuralgia.
A 2-dose course of Shingrix® will be available free for:
- people aged 65 years and over
- First Nations people aged 50 years and over
- immunocompromised people aged 18 years and over with certain medical conditions:
- haemopoietic stem cell transplant
- solid organ transplant
- haematological malignancy
- advanced or untreated HIV.
For more information, visit the Department of Health and Aged Care website.
Ep101: Setting the standard for workforce wellbeing
We’ve known for a decade that about 50 per cent of doctors meet the criteria for burnout, and the figure is up to 70 per cent among trainees. Organisations have been left to come up with their own solutions to this - the result being that many simply offer band aid solutions rather than systemic ones.
Unforgiving work conditions pose a problem for both recruitment and retention of staff to the health workforce. The New Zealand Health Department, Te Whatu Ora, forecasts that within ten years, the supply of doctors, pharmacists and nurses will fall short of demand by 14 to 18 per cent. In response they have established a national Health Charter that sets the workplace standards to keep staff safe and engaged.
Australia is one step behind, but in early September 2023 there was a leadership conference aimed at developing a similar wellbeing strategy nationally. It was envisaged that there would be Chief Wellness Officers at every major health service, reporting validated metrics about their workforce to a national taskforce. As explained in the keynote presentation at the conference, at the organisational level there are different responses appropriate to the three main domains that influence staff wellbeing, including: personal resilience, professional culture, and basic administrative efficiency.
This podcast captures reflections from wellbeing champions at several different Australasian health jurisdictions.
Guests
- Dr George Eskander MB DCH DRANZCOG FRACGP (Executive Area Director Clinical Services, North Metropolitan Health Service & Sir Charles Gairdner Osborne Park Hospital Care Group)
- Dr Bethan Richards MB FRACP MMed MSportsMed (Head of Rheumatology, Chief Medical Wellness Officer, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Senior Clinical Lecturer, The University of Sydney)
- Dr Joanna Sinclair MB FANZCA (Senior Medical Officer Wellbeing Lead, Counties Manukau Health)
- Victoria Hirst (Chief of Knowledge Networks, General Manager of Health Roundtable, Beamtree)
- Associate Professor Anne Powell BPharm MBBS FRACP (Program Director of Physician Education, Alfred Health in Melbourne, Monash University)
- Professor Jennifer Martin MBChB MA FRACP PhD GAICD (Chair of Clinical Pharmacology, University of Newcastle, John Hunter Hospital).
Please visit the Pomegranate Health web page for a transcript and supporting references. Login to MyCPD to record listening 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.
It can be difficult to balance work pressures, interactions with colleagues and personal relationships. To help, we partnered with Converge International. Through the program, you can access confidential counselling, coaching and support for work and personal issues.
The RACP Support Program is a free 24/7, fully confidential and independent help line for Fellows and trainees. All RACP members receive four free sessions per year.
Make an appointment or speak directly with a Converge consultant on 1300 687 327 (Australia) or 0800 666 367 (Aotearoa New Zealand). Any information you give to Converge is completely confidential between you and your consultant.
Find out more
To commemorate our 85-year Anniversary, you’re invited to submit your story to our 85 Year Anniversary publication. A total of 85 submissions will be curated into this keepsake publication to showcase the diverse journeys of our members and their personal connection with our College. All submissions will also be published in the College Roll.
Share your story or find out more
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’
Did you know that the RACP Online Community (ROC) is a private, secure place where you can post messages and engage in discussions with other members? It’s also where you can take advantage of our Member and Special Interest directories and participate in our Mentor Match program.
The ROC is exclusive to RACP members and Overseas Trained Physicians (OTPs) and is the perfect way to keep up-to-date with what’s happening in your community and the College as a whole.
To access the ROC, simply download the app from the App Store or Google Play, or log in via MyRACP.
Watch this short video to see how easy it is to log in to the ROC and be part of the conversation.
Log in to the ROC and find out more
This month, we bring you great offers to help you save more every day. Your Member Advantage gives you access to exclusive savings on private health insurance, automotive, travel and more. Log in and save today. Available online, 24/7. That's your Member Advantage.
Member Advantage Australia
Member Advantage Aotearoa New Zealand
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:
Adella Song
Education Officer
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