Your College Update – October 2026
Celebrating the growth and global reach of our journals
Welcome to the October edition of Your College Update.
This month, we shine a spotlight on the College’s two journals: the Internal Medicine Journal (IMJ) and the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (JPCH). These journals are the official peer-reviewed publications of the College's Adult Medicine Division and Paediatrics and Child Health Division and are published monthly.
2025 was a year of growth and momentum for the College’s journals, with both the IMJ and the JPCH reaching wider audiences, attracting more authors, and continuing to deliver trusted research to clinicians and researchers around the world.
The IMJ recorded a 33.3 per cent increase in submissions, reaching 1,606 manuscripts, while article views also increased. The journal has an impact factor of 1.8 and h-index of 88 and is accessible in 5,880 institutions globally, with its largest audiences in Australia, the United States, China, the United Kingdom and India.
The JPCH experienced even stronger growth, with submissions rising by 57 per cent to 1,540 manuscripts and article views increasing by 3.9 per cent. With a h-index of 92, impact factor of 1.4 it is solidly ranked in the Q2 and available in 5,976 institutions worldwide, reaching readers across the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, China and Aotearoa New Zealand.
The momentum continued through 2026, both journals expanding their visibility across social media platforms and through leading newspapers.
Looking ahead, strong submission volumes, expanded opportunities through Open Access agreements and new publishing technologies will continue to promote our members’ research. As the publishing landscape continues to evolve, the focus remains on maintaining quality, integrity and sustainability while ensuring our journals remain trusted, influential and globally connected sources of medical knowledge.
Most importantly, these achievements reflect the dedication of our editors, reviewers, authors and journal teams, whose expertise and commitment make this success possible. Together, they are helping ensure that high-quality research reaches clinicians, researchers and policymakers when it matters most, ultimately contributing to better health outcomes for communities across Australia, Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.
We encourage you to read the Member Spotlights below, featuring our two dedicated Editors-in-Chief, Professor Ju Lee Oei for the JPCH and Dr Paul Bridgman for the IMJ.
Until next month.
Adjunct Professor Susan Pascoe AM
Independent Interim Board Chair |
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Dr Julian Kelly
President-elect
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Meet the Editors-in-Chief behind our two leading journals. In our latest member spotlights, discover how Professor Ju Lee Oei and Dr Paul Bridgman are advancing paediatric and child health medicine, and internal medicine, through their clinical expertise, research and editorial leadership.
Member spotlight
Professor Ju Lee Oei
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
What does it take to improve outcomes for the most vulnerable newborns? For Professor Ju Lee Oei, it means bringing together clinical care, research, health policy and knowledge transfer across the paediatric community.
As Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health (JPCH), Professor Oei brings this breadth of experience to the Journal, alongside a career focused on improving care for high-risk infants and their families.
A neonatologist, Professor Oei is the inaugural Chair of Neonatology at Mater Research and the University of Queensland, and a Senior Neonatologist at the Royal Hospital for Women in Randwick. Her research explores oxygen use in preterm infants and the outcomes and treatment of families affected by prenatal substance use. Her clinical expertise also includes neonatal intensive care and resuscitation of extremely preterm infants.
Professor Oei’s work extends well beyond the hospital. She has contributed to state and national clinical guidelines, led health policy work for the NSW Ministry of Health, and was appointed a Lancet Commissioner. She has also led technical reports for the United Nations Office of Drug Control.
With research and clinical collaborations spanning more than 20 universities and 10 countries, Professor Oei brings a valuable international perspective to JPCH and its role in advancing paediatric and child health knowledge.
We’re grateful to Professor Oei for bringing her expertise and passion to the Journal and helping support the sharing of knowledge across our paediatric and child health community.
Member spotlight
Dr Paul Bridgman
Editor-in-Chief, Internal Medicine Journal
From Aotearoa New Zealand to Scotland and the United States, Dr Paul Bridgman’s career has taken him across the world before bringing him home to make a difference in cardiology.
Originally from Otago in the south of Aotearoa New Zealand, Paul trained in Edinburgh and Boston before returning to Aotearoa, as an echocardiologist. He is now Clinical Director of Cardiology in Christchurch and maintains a longstanding involvement with both the Cardiac Society and the RACP.
His contributions to the profession include serving as both Chair and Treasurer of the Cardiac Society in Aotearoa. Following the Christchurch earthquakes, his research interest in broken heart syndrome brought extensive media attention to the condition, highlighting the connection between emotional stress and heart health.
Dr Bridgman has been a valued part of the Internal Medicine Journal for 17 years, serving on its Editorial Board before becoming Editor-in-Chief in 2025. In this role, he plays an important part in sharing research and insights that inform clinical practice and advance the field of internal medicine.
We extend our sincere thanks to Dr Bridgman for his dedication to the Internal Medicine Journal, the RACP and the wider medical community.
New RACP HIV Position Statement outlines priorities for prevention, care and equitable access
How can we improve HIV prevention, care and health outcomes? Our new Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Position Statement sets out key priorities, including universal access to HIV care, greater investment in sexual health services and innovative approaches to prevention and management.
Read more and access the position statement.
National event launches regional, rural and remote healthcare report
Strengthening specialist healthcare outside metropolitan areas is essential to improving access and outcomes. Launched at a national online event attended by RACP members and health sector stakeholders, Australia’s Regional, Rural and Remote Healthcare Crisis report sets out a five-point plan to strengthen specialist care and training pathways.
Read more and access the report.
Six political parties discuss Aotearoa New Zealand’s health workforce priorities
What will it take to build a stronger, more sustainable health workforce? Six political parties joined our online Town Hall to discuss the Let Us Care election priorities. The discussion highlighted support for long-term workforce planning, sustainable working conditions and stronger rural and regional training pathways, while reinforcing the College's ongoing advocacy for meaningful reform.
Read more about the Town Hall and the Let Us Care priorities.
With the 2026 Victorian election approaching, we met with Victoria’s Health Minister and Shadow Health Minister to discuss priorities for the state’s healthcare system. Discussions focused on specialist workforce capacity, regional training pathways and access to care, ahead of our Victorian Election Statement, which will be available soon.
Read more about our advocacy efforts.
Final RACP LIFT events for 2026
Last chance to register
Experience an extraordinary line-up of world-class speakers, virtually or in person, including Dr Renee Liang, Bret McKenzie, The Rt. Hon. Jacinda Ardern, Dr Daniel Nour and Dr Ruth Mitchell.
Don’t miss your chance to be part of the RACP’s final LIFT events for 2026.
Join RACP Fellow, Dr Renee Liang MNZM and Bret McKenzie, tomorrow, Thursday, 29 October
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Internationally acclaimed musician, writer and comedian, Bret McKenzie ONZM, joins RACP Fellow and general paediatrician, Dr Renee Liang MNZM, at In Conversation. The duo will explore communication and human connection through the different worlds of medicine and the creative arts.
Date: Thursday, 29 October 2026
Time: 6pm – 9pm (NZDT), 4pm – 7pm (AEDT)
Format: In-person (QT Wellington) and virtual
Register: Secure your seat
Career Triage conference: virtual and day registration options available: 7-8 November
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The Career Triage: from registrar to consultant conference is designed for physicians and paediatricians navigating career transition or growth, particularly trainees, OTPs (SIMGs) and early-career Fellows. However, this event is open to all RACP members. Join us virtually or in person in Hobart on Saturday, 7 and Sunday, 8 November.
This conference brings together inspiring leaders, clinicians and changemakers to share practical clinical updates and thought-provoking insights on leadership, cultural safety, advocacy, wellbeing and building a meaningful, sustainable career in medicine. Find out more.
Need to complete your Cultural Safety CPD requirement for 2026?
Attending this conference provides two hours of Cultural Safety CPD through the two dedicated sessions, which you can join virtually or in person on Sunday, 8 November.
Internal Medicine Journal
Volume 56, Issue 10
Topics in this edition include physician practice, including patient safety, vaccination, hypertension, pharmacogenomics and AI.
Read more
Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health
Volume 62, Issue 10
Topics in this edition include child and adolescent health, including paediatric sepsis, asthma, ADHD and neonatal care.
Read more
Pomegranate Health Ep158: Iron infusions and fracture risk
Listen now
A safety signal for ferric carboxymaltose
One in twenty Australian women of reproductive age are treated with the intravenous iron supplement, ferric carboxymaltose (Ferinject, Ferricarbo, Ferivo). Research findings recently published in the journal, Blood, reveal that it is associated with a significant increase in fracture risk in patients.
Cohort studies have demonstrated that the risk of bone events in the seven years after a single infusion of ferric carboxymaltose was two to three times higher compared with use of ferric derisomaltose (Monofer).
The researchers also conducted experiments in a mouse model of iron-deficiency anaemia showing that the drug’s inhibition of bone-forming cells occurs independently of previously known phosphate-signalling pathways.
In this podcast, we hear from lead investigator, Professor Heinz Zoller of the Medical University of Innsbruck and Christian Doppler Laboratory for Iron and Phosphate Biology. Professor Luke Grzeskowiak and Professor Ian Morison also discuss the implications of these findings for prescribers and regulators in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, respectively.
Subscribe, claim CPD and get the transcript
To be among the first to find out about our latest podcasts, subscribe to new episode email alerts. All our podcasts are now available on YouTube. You can also search for them in Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Castbox, or any podcasting app. Did you know you can record listening and reading as a prefilled learning activity by logging in to MyCPD? For a transcript and supporting references of our podcast, please visit our podcast webpage.
IMJ On-Air: Race-neutral equations for classification of lung function
Listen now
Spirometry reference equations are central to differentiating obstructive ventilatory defects, like asthma and bronchiectasis, from restrictive ventilatory defects, like sarcoidosis and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis. Across the population, the metrics of lung function testing fall on a bell curve, and a person’s predicted score if healthy can be determined by entering their sex, age and height into a reference equation.
The shape of this bell curve varies between population groups. Historically, ethnicity was considered an important driver, and race-specific equations were developed to provide adjusted reference values for individual patients. In recent years, however, researchers have questioned whether ethnicity and genetics are as influential as structural differences in exposure to modifiable factors.
In a paper published in the Internal Medicine Journal, researchers investigated how using race-neutral lung function equations would affect the diagnostic classification of chronic respiratory diseases in an Australian patient cohort.
From 28 October 2026, rubella and congenital rubella become urgent notifiable conditions in Victoria. Medical practitioners and pathology services must notify suspected or confirmed cases immediately by calling the Department of Health on 1300 651 160 (24/7). Pathology services must also provide written notification within five working days.
Although rubella is rare in Australia, infection during pregnancy can cause miscarriage, stillbirth and serious birth defects. Prompt notification supports timely contact tracing and urgent assessment of pregnant people who may have been exposed.
Find out more
We’re simplifying the way you log in to your RACP account, making it easier for you to access our portals and tools.
What’s changing?
- Your login will change from your RACP user ID to your preferred email address.
- We will no longer use authenticator apps for multi-factor authentication (MFA).
Instead, we will use SMS and/or email verification.
What do I need to do?
We’ll be updating your login to your preferred email address by the end of the year. This is the address we currently use to send you email communications.
To make sure we have the correct login details, please review your email address and mobile number. Simply log in to MyRACP and click on ‘Edit my details’ or contact our Member Support Centre.
What happens next?
We expect the update will be completed before Christmas 2026. Once we’ve completed the update, you’ll receive a confirmation email and SMS asking you to:
- Log in using your preferred email address.
- Set up a new password.
- Set up authentication using SMS and/or email verification.
Thank you for your support as we make these improvements. We’ll provide updates and guidance through the process to help make this transition as smooth as possible.
Artificial intelligence has the potential to improve administrative efficiency and support clinical decision-making. But how can physicians and paediatricians ensure AI is used safely, ethically and responsibly?
Featured in Internal Medicine Journal (IMJ), our position statement, 'Using artificial intelligence in clinical practice', provides a framework for integrating AI into clinical practice while prioritising patient safety, privacy and professional judgement.
Read now
You may wish to attend
- RACP LIFT In Conversation with Dr Renee Liang FRACP MNZM and Bret McKenzie ONZM Thursday, 29 October | 6pm–9pm NZDT | Wellington and virtual
- Boost your financial health webinar Thursday, 5 November, 6pm–8pm AEDT
- RACP LIFT Keynote: The Rt. Hon. Dame Jacinda Ardern Saturday, 7 November | 9am–10am AEDT | Virtual attendance is exclusively for RACP members, or you can attend in Hobart
- RACP LIFT Career Triage Conference 7-8 November | Hotel Grand Chancellor Hobart
- The RACP NSW/ACT Research Skills Workshop and Trainee Research Awards Wednesday, 11 November 2026, 5pm–9pm AEDT
- Aotearoa New Zealand Financial Check-Up Webinar Thursday, 12 November, 7pm–8.15pm NZDT
- Occupational Dust Diseases Fundamentals Training Friday, 13 November in Sydney
- Burnout Prevention and Stress Management: Practical Tips for Sustainable Wellbeing Webinar Wednesday, 25 November, 4.30pm-5.30pm AEDT
- Inaugural National Amyloidosis Congress 14-15 May 2027, Brisbane
More events and courses