Pot-pourri eBulletin - 30 June 2023
A message from your President
This will be a brief message because I am preparing to go away on holiday with my family for several weeks. During that time, I will be stepping away completely from my workday life, and instead I will dedicate that time, one hundred percent, to those nearest and dearest to me. I cannot wait.
This is just a reminder to all of us to make sure we take some time and space to look after ourselves and our loved ones. We talk a lot about work-life balance, but we all know how hard it can be to genuinely achieve it. I hope that, like me, you embrace those rare opportunities as often as you can.
Please remember that the RACP Support Program is available if you could benefit from some help to manage your work-life balance. It offers free confidential support and a range of other helpful resources, and can be accessed via the College website. Further, it is available to you 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
In other news, the PCHD Council met on Thursday, 15 June to discuss a variety of matters, including physician and training shortages, policy and advocacy priorities, an update on College Congress plans, and updates from our Committee Chairs and Trainee Representatives. You will find a summary of the meeting in my next President’s post.
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
RACP Foundation grants, medals, prizes and awards
PCHD trainees and Fellows are eligible to apply for most awards. Visit the RACP Foundation webpage to see the eligibility criteria for each award and to access the online application form.
RACP Foundation Research Awards
Applications for the RACP Foundation Research Awards for 2024 are open. The Research Entry Scholarships are for researchers in their early career. Applications close on Tuesday, 18 July 2023.
Applications for research development grants and travel grants will open Saturday, 1 July 2023.
Other awards and grants
- RACP Trainee Research Awards (TRA) – applications are open from 1 July to 31 August 2023. The TRA provide an opportunity for trainees and New Fellows to present their research at local regional events. The best presenters from each local event are invited to present their work alongside recognised researchers in 2024.
- Please save the date for the TRA Symposium on Friday, 18 August 2023. 2022 award recipients will present their research at a hybrid event held at the RACP Sydney office.
College medals and awards
Nominations will open soon for the following College awards and medals. These awards and medals acknowledge outstanding contributions and achievements made by members in their respective fields. Consider nominating a colleague, a mentor, or a trainee, deserving of recognition. Applications for these opportunities close on 30 September 2023.
- The John Sands Medal recognises a Fellow who makes a significant contribution to the welfare of RACP and its members.
- The College Medal is aligned to the College motto hominum servire saluti. It is awarded to a Fellow who makes a significant contribution to medical specialist practice, healthcare and/or health of community through physician activities. Applications close on 30 September 2023.
- RACP International Medal recognises a member who has provided outstanding service in developing countries. Applications close on 30 September 2023.
- RACP Medal for Clinical Service in Rural and Remote Areas recognises a Fellow who has provided outstanding clinical service in rural and remote areas of Australia or Aotearoa New Zealand.
- RACP Mentor of the Year Award recognises a Fellow who has made an outstanding contribution to mentoring or provided a high level of support and guidance throughout training.
- RACP Trainee of the Year Award recognises a Trainee who has made an outstanding contribution to College, community and trainee activities.
- The Eric Susman Prize is awarded by the College to a Fellow for best contribution to the knowledge of internal medicine.
Full details are available on the RACP Foundation webpage.
2023 King’s Birthday Honours recipients
Congratulations to the following PCHD Fellows recognised in the 2023 King’s Birthday Honours list. These awards highlight the outstanding work done by College members and the importance of that work in local, national, and international communities.
Aotearoa New Zealand
Dame Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit (DNZM)
- Dr Teuila Percival QSO, FRACP
For services to Health and the Pacific community.
Member (AM) in the General Division
- Dr David Hill, FRACP
For significant service to paediatric medicine in the fields of allergy and respiratory biology.
- Dr Kenneth Rowland Whiting, FRACP
For significant service to paediatric medicine, and to neurodevelopmental disorder organisations.
- Professor Margaret Rosemary Zacharin OAM, FRACP
For significant service to medicine, particularly paediatric endocrinology.
COVID-19 Honour Roll
Member (AM) in the General Division
- Dr David Charles Hughes, FRACP
See the full list of award recipients
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
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:
- Marked versus unmarked tip catheter for less invasive surfactant administration
- Risk determination for upper urinary tract damage in children with neuropathic bladder
- Pre-school wheeze hospital presentations
- Dental treatments under general anaesthesia among children with congenital heart disease
- Steroid therapy in paediatric multisystem inflammatory syndrome temporally associated with SARS-CoV-2
- Optimal preoperative nutritional status for neonates undergoing cardiac surgery.
Read the journal
Stand out from the crowd
The RACP Trainee Research Awards are open to all RACP trainees and first year Fellows. This is a terrific opportunity to have your research recognised and it makes a great addition to your CV.
Trainees who take out top honours at their regional event will be invited to present alongside recognised researchers at a College event in 2024. They will also be invited to have their abstracts published in the Congress supplement of the Internal Medicine Journal or Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.
Applications for the 2023 Awards are open from 1 July to 31 August 2023.
Find out more
Help us shape the future of specialist training
We are seeking expressions of interest from specialists including Fellows and qualified non-Fellow candidates where applicable to help us develop draft competency-based curricula for selected Advanced Training programs. We have up to 16 roles available to represent each of the specialties participating in curricula renewal in 2023.
This is an opportunity to shape the future of training in your specialty.
For more information, visit the website. To apply, please email your completed expression of interest form and a copy of your CV latest by 11.59pm AEST Monday, 3 July to curriculum@racp.edu.au.
Applications are now open for the Vera Scantlebury Brown Child Welfare Memorial Trust Scholarship
The scholarship supports the professional development of women working in the areas of maternal and child health, early childhood education, prenatal, child and family health, development, and wellbeing. The scholarship is awarded to successful applicants by the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne. Applications close on Friday, 4 August 2023.
Read more
How can we support your digital health learning needs?
Trainees, to assist us in developing digital health training and educational resources and opportunities that suit trainees’ needs, we are asking for your input. You are invited to complete a short survey to help us understand your current level of digital health experience and skills.
Findings from the survey will guide us in developing appropriate digital health resources and professional development opportunities, and identify areas where you may need further training, education and support.
Take the survey
Online resources to help you reach your full potential
RACP Online Learning offers a wide array of dynamic online resources to support you in maintaining the highest professional standards in your field. Our comprehensive resources will enable you to upskill and develop across all of the professional practice domains, including in areas such as quality and safety, ethics, cultural safety, advocacy, communication and beyond. Unleash your full potential with our diverse range of educational resources.
Don’t forget to claim CPD hours for time spent on RACP Online Learning.
Pomegranate Health podcast – Ep95: Machine learning 101
Ep95: Machine learning 101
AI-assisted healthcare is reaching maturity in many applications and could alleviate some of the capacity gap increasingly faced by our health systems.
Over the next three podcasts we focus on artificial intelligence tools designed to assist directly with clinical practice. Most commonly reported tools are the algorithms capable of pattern recognition on medical images. In some settings these perform as well – or better – than expert diagnosticians at classifying disease. AI models have also been developed to perform regression analysis more complex than classical risk stratification aids. The standard statistical algorithms used to solve these problems struggle when many variables are introduced. In these cases, deep learning models that mimic brain networks are sometimes a powerful alternative.
In this episode we explain how machine learning algorithms are trained on particular tasks and where there are risks of error and bias being introduced. In part two, we identify the ergonomic issues that affect practical implementation of AI tools in the clinic and in the decision cascade. And in the final episode of the series we discuss the questions that regulators and lawyers should be asking of this new technology and what role natural language processors might have in medicine.
Guest
- Dr Ian Scott FRACP MHA MEd (Director of Internal Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology, Princess Alexandra Hospital; Professor of Medicine, University of Queensland).
Pomegranate Health podcast – Ep96: The ergonomics of AI
Ep96: The ergonomics of AI
The allure of having devices and tasks assisted by artificial intelligence (AI) is that they will help overcome some of the natural limits of human cognition with regards to working memory and attention. And in helping with the mundane tasks, AI can buy back clinicians time to spend with the complex patients who really need it. But the way all this pans out will really depend on how seamlessly the machine learning devices fit in with the clinical workflow.
Which aspect of clinical decision-making do they support and how are the consequences of error mitigated? Only a small fraction of research projects makes it all the way to implementation, and in this podcast we discuss the ergonomic factors that need to be solved to effectively use AI in clinical decision support.
Guests
- Associate Professor Clair Sullivan MBBS FRACP FACHI FAIDH CHIA (Director, Queensland Digital Health Centre; University of Queensland)
- Professor Enrico Coiera MBBS PhD FACMI, FACHI (Director, Centre for Health Informatics, Australian Institute of Health Innovation; Macquarie University).
Digital competencies for the next generation of physicians
This engaging webinar will cover what the future of digital health entails, and where technology is leading the national health system.
Join members of the RACP’s Digital Health Advisory Group to find out what the College is doing to meet these exciting and evolving technological trends. Plus, listen as experts discuss digital competencies for the next generation of physicians, as well as the challenges of integrating digital health into the training curricula.
Date and time: Wednesday, 26 July 2023 from 5pm to 6.15pm (AEST)
Register to attend
Have you completed your ‘my work profile’?
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’
The ROC homepage is getting a new look
We are excited to announce that we launched a new-look homepage on Monday, 5 June 2023. The new ROC homepage is more intuitive and easier to navigate and will include a range of new features for you to explore.
The new homepage also includes a link to our ‘ROC Tips’ - which features detailed information about how to access, navigate and utilise the ROC. Our ROC tips are frequently updated to ensure that you have all of the information you need in one single location.
Log into the ROC
The Member Advantage EOFY sale is on!
This June, save on all your tax-time purchases with Member Advantage. Log in to discover new savings, discounts, and prizes every week including a Weber BBQ, sponsored by The Good Guys Commercial.
Available online, 24/7. That's your Member Advantage. *Terms & Conditions apply.
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