Pot-pourri eBulletin - 10 February 2023
A message from your President
The Queensland Paediatric Community mourns and remembers the contribution to paediatric medicine and education of Dr Malcolm Nasser (1933 to 2023).
Malcolm was the first teaching registrar with a specialist paediatrician qualification. He was also a Queensland medical graduate and was admitted as a Fellow of the RACP (Paediatric Division) in 1981. His particular professional skills were in counselling and in the promotion and capacity-building of nursing, allied health professionals, and family support groups. Vale, Malcolm. You will be sadly missed.
I will be meeting with Dr Sophie Scamps MP and other interested parties in Canberra today, Friday, 10 February, to progress work started at the parliamentary briefing I attended late last year (see a summary of that meeting in our November 2022 eBulletin). The goals of this group align with the RACP’s Kids COVID Catch Up campaign, an endeavour fully supported by the PCHD.
It is my great pleasure to advise that, as President of the Paediatrics & Child Health Division, I will attend this month the 30th IPA Congress & 60th PEDICON 2023 to be held in Gandhinagar, Gujarat, India. I will be part of an Australian Faculty contingent that includes RACP President Dr Jacqueline Small, as well as Dr Divyesh Mehta, Dr Margie Danchin, Dr Shanti Raman, and more. With an exciting program filled with international experts, this event promises to be an unmissable opportunity to meet and exchange ideas with the global paediatric community. Watch out for updates and stories after the event. If you are attending, please let us know.
Closer to home, the RACP has said farewell to Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peter McIntyre, who left the College in December last year. I would like to thank Peter for all his work, especially during the unprecedented COVID-19 period, and to welcome Interim CEO Louise McElvogue who joined the College on 19 December 2022.
The Gender Equity in Medicine (GEM) Committee will select its permanent chair soon, but in the meantime I continue to chair the Committee in an interim capacity, and I will continue to contribute as a Committee Member once a chair is selected.
This week saw the launch of the 2023 Lancet Series on Breastfeeding, including the influence of commercial milk formula marketing. This is a topic I am following keenly as it is of huge importance to the health of infants on a global scale. This week’s event saw Richard Horton, Editor in Chief of the Lancet, and a panel of experts at the Royal Society of Medicine unpack a new three-paper Lancet Series which explores how the value of breastfeeding is wasted by the government and public health and exploited by the formula milk industry.
On a side note, the College Learning Series is a resource that should already be well known to our paediatric trainees, but is perhaps not as familiar to paediatric Fellows. This is an excellent resource that is well worth your exploration, and it is still growing. It is anticipated that 140 more paediatric-specific lectures will be added in 2023, with three uploaded each week. Log in and explore the collection which is searchable by series, year, and specialty. Fellows can also contribute to the series as part of their continuing professional development (CPD), and Advanced Trainees can also contribute as part of their personal development. If you have any feedback on the CLS, please contact Paed@racp.edu.au.
I would also like to wish all trainees the very best of luck ahead of the Divisional Written Exam (DWE) on 13 February.
Our warmest congratulations go to the PCHD members who received well-earned awards in this year’s Australia Day Honours list. These awards highlight the outstanding work RACP members do and the importance of that work in local, national, and international communities. The 2023 recipients are:
Member (AM) in the General Division
- Professor Martin Delatycki (VIC) - for significant service to medicine, to genetic research, and to education.
- Associate Professor Peter Andrew Downie (VIC) - for significant service to paediatric oncology, to teaching, and to research.
- Conjoint Professor Edwin Philip Kirk (NSW) - for significant service to genetic pathology and clinical genetics, and to medical research.
Medal (OAM) in the General Division
- The late Dr Donald James Cameron (VIC) - for service to paediatric gastroenterology.
- Dr Hugo Gold (VIC) - for service to medicine.
I would also like to congratulate Adult Medicine Division member Professor Katharine Shirley Steinbeck (NSW) - for significant service to adolescent medicine through a range of roles.
Finally, it is my very great pleasure to welcome all our new Paediatric Basic Trainees joining the College. It will no doubt feel like a long journey and at times a difficult one but know that all PCHD members wish you every good fortune along your way. Congratulations!
Best wishes,
Professor Nitin Kapur
PCHD President
Expressions of Interest (EOIs)
Please keep an eye on the EOIs page on the College website for vacant positions on PCHD Committees.
All Expressions of Interest
My RACP. MyCPD Home
Last year we notified you that your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) requirements will be evolving. This is a reminder that as of 1 January 2023, all Australian medical practitioners will need to select a CPD Home.
Did you know that your RACP Fellowship means you already belong to a quality and accredited CPD Home? There are plenty of benefits, resources, and tailored support available to you as part of your College membership.
Remember to also review the 2023 MyCPD Framework webpage for a breakdown of other changes which have taken effect as of 1 January 2023.
Learn more
RACP CLS: Interactive online educational resource
The RACP College Learning Series (CLS) is a comprehensive online library aimed at Basic Trainees. The annual program includes over 200 lectures delivered across both divisions, with new content uploaded regularly. See existing divisional specific resources on the eLearning webpage, and find out about upcoming weekly lectures:
View the upcoming PCHD lectures
What you might not know is that Advanced Trainees and Fellows can contribute to the series for their own personal and professional development. For information, contact the CLS team.
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health: January 2023
The Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health publishes original research articles of scientific excellence in paediatrics and child health. The latest edition is now live and available to view online.
Articles in this edition include:
- Impact of parental health literacy on the health outcomes of children with chronic disease globally
- Probiotic supplementation in healthy pre-school-aged children
- The prognostic value of delta-lactate in critically ill children
- Understanding adolescent girls’ and young women’s health-seeking for female genital cosmetic surgery
- Aerosol generation during paediatric procedural sedation with continuous-flow nitrous oxide suggests a low risk of airborne viral transmission to health-care workers.
Read the journal
IMJ On-Air podcast — High readmission rates in cirrhotic patients
High readmission rates in cirrhotic patients
Hospitalisation rates for cirrhosis are increasing in Australia, in part associated with the high prevalence of obesity and subsequent non-alcoholic fatty liver disease. More concerning is the frequency with which discharged patients are readmitted within 30 days. One systematic review put the average readmission rate at 26 per cent, but the studies cited varied greatly in their inclusion and exclusion criteria, and not much is known from Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
In the December edition of the Internal Medicine Journal, researchers at the Austin Hospital Liver Transplant Unit in Melbourne reported a 46 per cent readmission rate among their patients. This was based on a retrospective audit of medical records, which also suggested that a fifth of readmissions might have been preventable. Better adherence to practice guidelines when patients are first hospitalised for cirrhosis may reduce a significant burden on patients and the healthcare system.
Guests
- Professor James O’Beirne FRCP FRACP (Director of Gastroenterology & Hepatology, Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service; University of the Sunshine Coast)
- Dr Karl Vaz FRACP (Victorian Liver Transplant Unit, Austin Hospital)
References
Karl Vaz et al. Rate of early hospital readmission amongst cirrhotic patients is high in Australia: Experience from a single liver transplant centre Internal Medicine Journal 2021; 52(12).
Please visit the Pomegranate Health web page for a transcript and supporting references. To claim learning credits login to MyCPD at this link, review the prefilled activity details and click save. Subscribe to new episode email alerts or search for ‘Pomegranate Health’ in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, or any podcasting app.
IMJ On-Air podcast — Hyperglycaemia and COVID-19
Hyperglycaemia and COVID-19
In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, a handful of international studies showed that there was increased risk of adverse outcomes in hospitalised patients comorbid for diabetes. Odds ratios for mortality conferred by pre-existing diabetes ranged from 1.5 to 3.6. What this relationship might be in Australia was not known until researchers in Melbourne retrospectively examined electronic medical records from the two waves of COVID-19 in that city.
The prevalence of diabetes among Melbourne inpatients is around 35 per cent, and in 2020 over 70 per cent of all Australia’s case load was in Victoria. This presented an opportunity to observe the relationship between the conditions with substantial statistical power. But while ICU admission and mortality were more common in those with diabetes than those without, neither diabetes nor hyperglycaemia were independently associated with in-hospital mortality.
In this podcast the authors speculate as to why there was this deviation from patterns observed internationally. A possible explanation involves the receipt of dexamethasone therapy in patients with hyperglycaemia, which was found by other researchers to be preventative for COVID-19-associated mortality.
Guests
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Associate Professor John Wentworth FRACP (Royal Melbourne Hospital, Walter and Eliza Hall Institute)
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Dr Rahul Barmanray FRACP (Royal Melbourne Hospital, the University of Melbourne)
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Dr Dev Kevat FRACP (Western Health, Monash University)
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Dr Mohamed Ashraful Islam (Goulburn Valley Health)
Free access to IMJ for RACP members
Please visit the Pomegranate Health web page for a transcript and supporting references. To claim learning credits login to MyCPD at this link, review the prefilled activity details and click save. Subscribe to new episode email alerts or search for ‘Pomegranate Health’ in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, or any podcasting app.
Have you completed your ‘my work profile’?
If not, can you please take a couple of minutes to complete it? 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.
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.
Don’t forget to log in and see what’s happening on the ROC
The ROC is a secure online forum for all RACP Fellows and trainees, designed to support your needs through a range of innovative programs such as:
Mentor Match which helps you connect with other members based on your mentoring preferences and professional goals. Mentors provide guidance and support to mentees, while mentees are given the opportunity to develop personally and professionally and receive constructive feedback to improve performance and outcomes. This activity falls under the MyCPD Category 2 – Reviewing Performance.
Find your perfect match
The ROC mobile app will help you get the most out of your online community and connect with other RACP members. The app can be used to initiate discussions, find other members, read the latest posts and share your expertise. Download the app from the App Store or Google Play, or log in via MyRACP.
Member Advantage: Celebrate your love, celebrate your savings!
This Valentine’s Day, your Member Advantage brings you incredible discounts at retailers including JB HiFi, Temple & Webster, The Iconic, Michael Hill and more! For a limited time only, save 14 per cent on Ultimate Beauty & Spa, Ultimate Him and Ultimate Style/Shopping eGift cards, as well as Gourmet Traveller Restaurant eGift cards*.
Available online 24/7. That's your Member Advantage. *Terms and conditions apply.
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New South Wales
Developmental Paediatrician: Bondi Junction | Closing: 24 April 2023
View all career opportunities on the RACP website.
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