Pot-pourri eBulletin - 18 March 2024
PCHD Council had its first meeting of 2024 last week. It will be the last meeting for several members who are due to step down from the Committee in May this year, and I’d like to thank them here for their invaluable contributions over the past years:
- Dr Hamish McCay
- Professor Julie McGaughran
- Dr David Newman
- Dr Elizabeth Pickford
- Dr Pat Tuohy
- Professor Graham Vimpani
The work of the PCHD Council is complex and takes valuable time, not just at meetings but dealing with consultations and out-of-session resolutions between times. I am always appreciative of the skills, advice and energy of our Council members. A big thank you to everyone, whether stepping down in May or continuing their service.
Expressions of Interest are now open for positions on the following committees:
I encourage you to look at the information available and see if any of these roles are of interest to you, or you may wish to nudge a colleague to apply. Please review the information carefully, as some positions are presently vacant, while others will become available when current committee members step down in mid-May. If you have any questions, please contact the PCHD secretariat on Paed@racp.edu.au.
On 18 March I’ll be attending the AMA Colleges, Associations and Societies Meeting 2024 in Canberra. The College has been invited to attend along with other key leaders in medicine to discuss how best to collaborate on shared challenges and advocacy opportunities.
We are fast approaching RACP Congress 2024 and I’m more excited than ever to see the fantastic program that is being developed. This year’s theme is “Shaping Healthcare” and it’s a great opportunity to hear about the future of healthcare and to engage with our broader physician and specialist community. Join us on Day 1 to see the Paediatric Poster Prize presentations and for sessions on AI, Climate Action and Justice, and the NDIS. Day 2 starts with Professor Alistair Gunn giving the Howard Williams Medal oration. This oration honours Howard Williams, a great paediatrician who believed that the health of children was the basis for the health of the nation and its whole social wellbeing. This is a belief that’s still at the core of all we do today. I hope you can join Professor Gunn and myself at RACP Congress this year. I look forward to seeing you there. To register, see the Congress website.
I’m pleased to announce that Conjoint Professor Ju Lee Oei has been appointed as the interim Editor in Chief of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
We wish Professor Geoff Thompson all the best for his future endeavours.
Professor Nitin Kapur
PCHD President
Expressions of Interest (EOIs)
Please keep an eye on the EOIs page on the College website for vacant positions
All Expressions of Interest
Your latest RACP Congress 2024 update
RACP Congress is shaping up to be an exciting event, with something for everyone. If you haven't seen the program, we encourage you to check it out, as more details have been recently added. If you are staying on after RACP Congress, here are some highlights of what to do in Sydney.
Don't forget to add a ticket to one of the social highlights of the program, the Gala Dinner when you register.
Ask an Expert
One of the features is the Ask an Expert sessions, where you can connect with other members to find out more about a range of topics such as a career as a doctor, study tips, how to get involved with advocacy and gain media coverage, and more. These one-to-one sessions will be available for all delegates during the breaks.
To submit an expression of interest to be one of our ‘experts’, please email racpcongress@racp.edu.au with the topic and some brief information on your experience with the topic.
The rapid fire clinical updates
In the rapid fire clinical updates, you can add to your knowledge by finding out more about the latest updates from a range of specialty societies.
Here are just some of the updates for you to enjoy:
- What is an obstetric physician, and considering obstetric medicine as a sub-specialty
- HIV clinical indicator testing: reducing the missed diagnosis
- Recognising Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder: a clinical update
- An update on the diagnosis of gestational diabetes
- The changing face of multiple sclerosis epidemiology.
RACP Congress 2024: Shaping Healthcare is a forum for physicians to unite, collaborate, and drive the future of healthcare. Join us and take this opportunity to engage with the broader specialist community.
Register now
Attention all supervisors: Watch the recording of the powerful Culturally Safe Supervision and the Referendum Webinar now
“Culturally safe supervision is important for building trust, developing supervisors’ cultural safety, retaining Indigenous healthcare professionals, mitigating cultural bias and stereotyping, acknowledging historical injustices, aligning with ethical and legal standards, and contributing to broader systemic change.” – Dr Kimberley Male, RACP Basic Trainee and Chair of the Culturally Safe Supervision Working Group.
Watch this 70-minute webinar recording to hear from the panel of experts: Wendy Edmondson, Dr Kimberley Male and Dr Louis Peachey on the Referendum's impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander trainees and learn how as supervisors you can provide culturally safe support. The webinar explores:
- How the referendum has and will continue to impact Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander trainees, colleagues, and patients
- How supervisors can be mindful of this impact when supervising Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander trainees
- Information for supervisors to find out more about and implement culturally safe supervision in their practice.
WATCH WEBINAR: https://elearning.racp.edu.au/mod/page/view.php?id=38044
To support further learning about Culturally Safe Supervision, the panel of speakers has also provided some additional resources.
This webinar was delivered as part of the RACP’s Culturally Safe Supervision project, which has been funded by the Australian Government through the Flexible Approach to Training in Expanded Settings (FATES) program. This project will deliver a comprehensive suite of resources for supervisors. We encourage you stay up to date by checking the suite of resources regularly as we unveil more educational resources for supervisors. New resources are being developed over the next 12 months and will be added as they are made available.
Pomegranate Health podcast – Ep105: When parents and paediatrics clash
Last November an NHS Hospital Trust in Nottingham sought permission from the UK High Court to withdraw life support from a seven-month-old girl called Indi Gregory. The devastated parents did not want to give up on her although they were advised there was no hope of treatment for her profound developmental disability. The family and the medical teams returned to court two more times, right up to the day that Indi was to be extubated. Conflicts over care have always existed but their frequency has increased as medicinal advances present more options for intervention even in the sickest patients. Added to that, the online media environment allows advocacy campaigns to grow until they spill onto the streets outside hospitals and courtrooms. This heightened tension causes moral injury both to parents and healthcare staff looking after child patients. The Medical Mediation Foundation has developed a conflict management framework to help avoid or de-escalate such disputes and keep attention focused on the best interests of the patient. In this podcast we hear from the director of the foundation, as well as three staff from the Starship Hospital, Auckland who have undertaken this training.
Guests
Ms Sarah Barclay (Director, the Medical Mediation Foundation)
Dr Louise Webster MBChB RANZCP FRACP (Paediatric Consult Liaison Team, Starship Hospital)
Dr Fiona Miles FRACP FFICANZCA (Paediatric Intensivist, Starship Hospital)
Ms Fiona McIver (nurse specialist, Starship Hospital)
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.
Update your details with the College
Did you know that you can now update your address details online? Simply Login to MyRACP and go to “Edit my details”.
The ROC Member Directories - connect with your colleagues today
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.
RACP Benefits - your new lifestyle benefits program has arrived
Save on all your favourite lifestyle and service brands from leading retailers across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand – with RACP Benefits. Our new 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.
Pomegranate Health podcast: Your contributions welcome
The RACP podcast, Pomegranate Health, has published over 100 episodes since starting out eight years ago.
To provide more frequent and focused content we’re seeking contributions from our speciality societies, committees and affiliated professional organisations.
To hear what this would sound like, listen to the episodes tagged [IMJ On-Air]
These episodes feature authors published in the Internal Medicine Journal being interviewed by the relevant section editor.
They have covered themes as varied as asthma management, hospital-acquired complications, causes of readmission and the JEV outbreak.
You already spend considerable time preparing lectures and webinars for your colleagues.
Audio podcasts provide an easy way to reach thousands more around the world.
Each episode gets downloaded around 6500 times over the first 12 months from publication, with 21 per cent of listeners located outside of Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.
All you need to do is to organise one or more presenters and an interviewer familiar with the material. The podcast producer will coordinate an online recording lasting about one hour and then edit it down before publication. The intention would be to ‘brand’ regular episodes from your specialty society or organisation in the same way that we’ve done with [IMJ On-Air].
Please send any questions or ideas to podcast@racp.edu.au
Career opportunities
Queensland: Visiting Medical Officer – Paediatrics/Neonatologist: Greenslopes Private Hospital - Closing date: 24 April 2024
View all career opportunities on the RACP website.
Pot-pourri submissions welcome
To submit an article for publishing in Pot-pourri, please email paed@racp.edu.au. The article should be no more than 350 words. If you would like to submit an image with your article, it would be assumed that you have received appropriate permission to use the photo and it needs to be of high resolution, above 300 dpi. Please note that articles may need to be edited by the RACP Communications Team.