Pot-pourri eBulletin - 16 April 2024
It was my privilege recently to represent the College and Paediatrics & Child Health Division when speaking with ABC Brisbane Breakfast on 2 April. The discussion was about an update to the WHO guidelines stating that cow’s milk is safe to be given to babies 6-11 months old as an alternative to formula, if iron supplementation can be done as well. The RACP acknowledges that breastfeeding is the best infant feeding option for optimal health outcomes for mother and child and should be the preferred feeding option. However, should breastfeeding not be possible for any reason, non-breastfeeding mothers should receive professional, non-judgemental support and education from health professionals on how to provide adequate nutrition to their baby. You can listen to the interview here (begins approx. 1 hour 33 minutes in and finishes at approx. 1 hour 40 minutes). I also spoke on ABC TV on the same topic. I encourage you to have a listen to the interview, and draw your attention to the College’s position statement on Early Childhood: The Importance of the Early Years (see page 27: Infant nutrition including breastfeeding).
As flagged last month, on 18 March I attended the AMA Colleges, Associations and Societies Meeting 2024 in Canberra. The AMA called this full-day meeting to discuss with key leaders in medicine the significant policy challenges facing the profession and to consider how we may best work together to meet these challenges. The Hon Mark Butler, Minister for Health and Aged Care, spoke on the day, and key topics included Overseas Trained Physicians, workforce, and vaping. RACP President Dr Jacqueline Small and Adult Medicine Division President-elect Professor Brian Wood also attended on behalf of the College.
A reminder that the Chapter of Community Child Health’s annual Chapter Satellite Day will be held in Sydney on Sunday, 19 May. Chapter members who are keen to attend should do so as soon as possible via the event registration website as numbers are limited. This promises to be an excellent way for Chapter members to secure Category 2 CPD while participating in sessions on:
- regression in children and young people
- mood and mental health in children and young people with intellectual disability
- use of chemical restraint for children and young people.
Due to capacity restrictions, this event is open to Chapter members only. If any PCHD members wish to attend but are not currently members of the Chapter of Community Child Health, please contact Paed@racp.edu.au for information on how to apply.
This edition of Pot-pourri features an introduction to the Child Protection Paediatric Society of Australasia (CPPSA) – see below. Child Protection is one of the three pillars of the Chapter of Community Child Health, and it’s exciting to see this new dedicated specialty society being launched to represent specialists working in that very important field.
We enter the second quarter of the year with a reminder of the diversity and enthusiasm of our paediatric community. A recent RACP Online Community (ROC) post asked members to talk about any volunteer work that is near and dear to them; the results make for interesting and inspirational reading. Why not head to the ROC and contribute your thoughts?
RACP Congress 2024 is now only a month away. Congress is a fantastic way to meet and/or catch up with our broader physician community – and nothing beats face-to-face engagement. If you haven’t already done so, I’d urge you to look over the program and register via the Congress website.
Finally, a reminder that Expressions of Interest remain open for several positions on the following:
If you have any questions, please contact the PCHD secretariat on Paed@racp.edu.au.
Professor Nitin Kapur
PCHD President
Please keep an eye on the EOIs page on the College website for vacant positions on PCHD Committees.
All Expressions of Interest
PCHD Congress program
RACP Congress is being held at Sydney’s International Convention Centre on Thursday, 16 and Friday, 17 May. The program covers diverse topics that will impact the future of our profession. This is a great opportunity to hear from local and international subject matter experts across different specialities, earn your CPD hours and network with your colleagues.
Some key sessions across the two days include:
The rapid fire clinical updates
- Recognising Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder
Professor Elizabeth Elliott will update you on the current terminology and diagnostic criteria and available management strategies. Topics covered include groups at risk, available educational resources for clinicians and families, peer support, prevention strategies and the national plan to address FASD.
- An update on the diagnosis of gestational diabetes
This rapid-fire clinical update, presented by Dr Arianne Sweeting, will summarise recent international data on type and timing of diagnosis for gestational diabetes and implications for clinical practice.
Howard Williams Medal Oration
Presented this year by Professor Alistair Gunn, Professor of Paediatrics and Physiology at the University of Auckland. Professor Gunn will be presenting on The development of therapeutic hypothermia; from bench to cotside.
Artificial Intelligence: shaping the healthcare landscape
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting medical and healthcare systems globally. Join Professor Enrico Coiera as he presents a roadmap for AI in healthcare within Australia. His presentation will be followed by a discussion with panel members who share their experiences of using AI in their profession.
This is shaping up to be an insightful two days and we hope to see you there.
Register now
Introducing the Child Protection Paediatric Society of Australasia
We are delighted to announce the launch of the Child Protection Paediatric Society of Australasia (CPPSA), a non-profit organisation for healthcare professionals who are working, or have a special interest, in child protection in Australasia. We seek to bring together a wide range of professionals into this inaugural society, including general, subspecialty and forensic paediatricians, general practitioners, career medical officers, emergency medicine doctors, radiologists, pathologists, and specialist trainees. Membership is now open to doctors only, but in future, this opportunity will be available to other health professionals.
The benefits and features of membership include:
- Access to the CPPSA membership website along with a library of clinical resources.
- Regular educational webinars on basic and advanced topics in child protection and other relevant issues (no charge).
- CPPSA conference (reduced conference fee for members).
- On-line members’ only discussion forum to support sharing of knowledge including clinical practice and advocacy topics – this will become available in late 2024/2025.
We hope you will embrace this opportunity to join this exciting society and become part of the child protection network across Australasia.
The annual fee for ordinary members is AUD $400 + GST and for trainees is AUD $200 + GST.
More details on how to join the society can be found on the CPPSA website: https://cppsa.au
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:
Read the journal
Women in health eligible for leadership development scholarships
Women & Leadership Australia has announced new scholarships to enable more women to access world-class leadership and workplace skill development programs. By combining cutting-edge leadership theory with practical application, and a flexible part-time delivery, Women & Leadership Australia offers an unparalleled learning experience designed to fit into your busy schedule.
With partial scholarships ranging from $1,000 to $5,000, there are four programs to suit women in non-leadership roles all the way up to senior executives. Applications close Friday, 14 June 2024 unless allocated prior.
Find out more here: https://www.wla.edu.au/industry/health
Changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and prescription process
All approved specialists* who prescribe stimulant medicines for Western Australian residents are required to apply for approval to prescribe stimulant medicines and comply to the criteria and conditions for prescribing stimulants outlined in the code. Approved specialists are no longer required to have a practice address in WA. A patient may only be under treatment with stimulants by one approved Stimulant Prescriber at a time. Before commencing treatment with stimulants, a Stimulant Prescriber must notify the Department of Health. This includes when a patient transfers to a new Stimulant Prescriber, even if they are already in treatment with stimulants.
A new notification is required if any of the following stimulant treatment details change:
- patient name
- authorised stimulant prescriber
- nominated co-prescriber (including change of co-prescriber place of practice).
It is the responsibility of the Stimulant Prescriber to give notice to a co-prescriber that they have been nominated to assist in prescribing stimulants for a patient.
- Prescription is written on or after 13 December 2023
- Patient has a Western Australian residential address on the prescription
- Prescription is written by an approved specialist*:
*Approved specialists include:
- psychiatrist
- child and adolescent psychiatrist
- paediatrician
- neurologist
- paediatric neurologist
- rehabilitation physician
- paediatric rehabilitation physician
- respiratory and sleep physician
- thoracic medicine physician
Today’s guests are the hosts of This Medical Life, a podcast that delves into the archives of medical history. Dr Travis Brown describes the period after World War I when the Spanish Flu was killing tens of millions around the world. In the USA whiskey was thought to be a powerful prophylactic but distribution was not an easy thing. Later in the episode (22min) is the equally unlikely tale of how the pomegranate made its way from ancient myth onto this podcast by way of Henry VIII.
Guests
- Dr Travis Brown MBBS, FRCPA (ClinPath Pathology)
- Steve Davis MBA FAMI CPM (Talked About Marketing)
Please visit the Pomegranate Health web page for a transcript and supporting references. Login to MyCPD to record learning activity. Subscribe to new episode email alerts or search for ‘Pomegranate Health’ in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox or any podcasting app.
Did you know that you can now update your address details online? Simply Login to MyRACP and go to “Edit my details”.
Did you know that the ROC is a secure online forum and series of communities exclusively for RACP Fellows and trainees?
The ROC is your space – a private community where you can connect with your colleagues, share useful resources, and discuss topics of interest in a healthy and respectful manner.
Some of the other features of the ROC include:
Mentor Match – an innovative tool to help you connect with other members, based on your mentoring preferences and professional goals.
Member Directory – an online directory that enables you to find your colleagues, connect with them, and chat directly.
Special Interest Directory – a searchable database of members' special interests, speaker presentations, published papers and books.
Plus, so much more.
So make sure you log in to the ROC today to see what’s happening, and be part of the conversation.
For more information, review our ROC FAQ's webpage or email community@racp.edu.au
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
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.