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The Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental Medicine aims for excellence in the standard of training and practice of Occupational Medicine in Australasia. Occupational Physicians are consultants in the effects of work on health and health on work, and strive continually for acceptable working conditions in all facets of industry. |
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Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental Medicine
145 Macquarie Street Sydney, NSW 2000
ph: (02) 9256 9603
afoem@racp.edu.au
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AFOEM eNews: Friday 24, July 2009 |
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Welcome to this week's edition of the AFOEM eNews.
Welcome to this week's edition of the AFOEM eNews.
These ebulletins are best viewed in html. Simply click on the item of interest (left) and you will be taken straight to that item.
An archive of all previous Newsletters (since 2002) are available on the Faculty website.
As always, if you would like to contribute an item to the next eNewsletter please email a paragraph to afoem@racp.edu.au by Tuesday of the publishing week.
Disclaimer
Although AFOEM takes all reasonable steps to ensure this email does not contain malicious software, AFOEM does not accept responsibility for the consequences if any person's computer inadvertently suffers any disruption to services, loss of information, harm or is infected with a virus, other malicious computer program or code that may occur as a consequence of receiving this email.
Unless stated otherwise, this email represents only the views of the sender and not the views of AFOEM.
Contact us
Senior Executive Officer AFOEM
Andy Messner
(02) 9256 9602
Andrew.Messner@racp.edu.au
Fascimile: (02) 9247 8082
Administrative Officer AFOEM
Daniel Cheung
(02) 9256 9603
Daniel.Cheung@racp.edu.au
CPD Administrator | AFOEM, AFPHM & AFRM
Natali Vlatko
(02) 9256 9608
Natali.Vlatko@racp.edu.au
Project Officer | RACP Faculties & Chapters (Part Time: Weds - Fri)
Neridah Callaghan
(02) 9256 9636
Neridah.Callaghan@racp.edu.au
Project Reserach Officer AFOEM Strategic Project (Part Time: Mon)
Heidi Williams
Heidi.Williams@racp.edu.au
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Dates For Your Diary |
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Training Status Report Deadline
- Friday 31, July 2009
- Report for January to June 2009
- Download the form and forward to Supervisor and DoT with cc to faculty office
WOMIG
- Friday 31, July 2009
- 9.00AM - 4.00PM (New Zealand local time)
- Seabridge House, 110 Featherson St, Wellington
SA Regional Committee Meeting
- Saturday 1, August 2009
- Venue: TBC
NSW Trainee Review Meeting
- Monday 3, August 2009
- 5.30PM - 7.00PM
- KPEC, RPAH, Camperdown, NSW
AFOEM CPD Subcommittee Meeting
- Wednesday 5, August 2009
- via teleconference
SA Training/Educational Meeting - Clinical Gait Analysis
- Thursday 6, August 2009
- Waverley House, St Andrews Hospital
- 6.00PM
- Guest speakers: Chris Bishop & Paul Townsend (Podiatrists)
Assessment Subcommittee Meeting
- Friday 7, August 2009
- 3.00PM - 5.00PM
- via teleconference
Remote Area Trainees Teleconference
- Thursday 20, August 2009
- Midday - 1.30PM (Brisbane local time)
QLD Training Review Meeting
- Thursday 20, August
- 5.30PM - 7.30PM (Brisbane local time)
SA Training/Educational Meeting - Synergism
- Thursday 20, August 2009
- Benson's Radiology, Melbourne St, North Adelaide
- 6.00PM
- Guest speaker: Marilyn Patterson (OT)
RACP New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting
- Friday 4 - Sunday 6, September 2009
- Hyatt Regency Hotel, Auckland
- Held in conjunction with Internal Medicine Society of Australia & New Zealand, Australian & New Zealand Society for Geriatric Medicine, Australian & New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine
- Theme: Intersections & Transitions
- Click for further information
Written Examination
- Saturday 5 - Sunday 6, September 2009
- Various locations (TBA)
- Confirmation letters will be sent to Trainees by 1st week of August 2009
Practical Examination
- Saturday 7 - Sunday 8, November 2009
- Royal Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
2010 Annual Training Meeting, Faculty Training Day, and Faculty Dinner
- Saturday 20 - Sunday 21, March 2010
- Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC
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External Events |
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Health Insurance Summit
The Disability & Age Discrimination Law Reform Summit
ANSZOM 2009 ASM
- Wednesday 12 - Saturday 15, August 2009
- Hyatt Coolum Resort, QLD
- RE: Fit to work
- View the Flyer
National Workplace Safety Summit
- Thursday 27 - Friday 28, August 2009
- Brisbane Marriott, QLD
- AFOEM President Ross Mills will be guest speaking on "Presenteeism, absenteeism and barriers to RTW"
- Click for flyer
- Click to register
1st Australasian Refugee Health Conference
- Tuesday 1 - Wednesday 2, September 2009
- Perth Convention Exhibition Centre, WA
- Improve your understanding of complex refugee health needs
- Click for further information
SimTech Health 2009 Simulation Conference
- Monday 7 - Friday 11, September 2009
- Hilton on the Park, Melbourne, VIC
- RE: Beyond technical skills
- Click for further details
Consensus on Neck Pain
- Saturday 19 - Sunday 20, September 2009
- Crowne Plaza Hotel, Canberra
- An interactive workshop featuring "Insight into Alfresco Share"
- EOIs to Jayne Lakeland
Know Cancer in the Workplace - National Forum
- Thursday 10, December 2009
- University House, Australian National University, Canberra
- Further information contact education@cancerwa.asn.au
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2010 AFOEM ATM / Faculty Training Day / Dinner |
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Saturday 20 - Sunday 21, March 2010 | Melbourne
The 2010 Annual Training Meeting / Faculty Training Day / Dinner will be held in March 2010 at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, VIC. Saturday 20, March 2009 will be dedicatd to AFOEM trainees with the theme being "Environment".
Sunday 21, March 2009 will be open to all AFOEM members and will include Ramazzini presentations, Annual Members Meeting and a presentation by the 2010 Fergurson-Glass Orator Dr John Osman. The program for both days will be finalised and distributed in the upcoming month.
Following the RACP Ceremony, the Annual Faculty Dinner will be held on the Sunday evening at The Terrace.
Note: The Annual Scientific Meeting will be run in conjunction with WCIM 2010.
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WCIM 2010 Melbourne |
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20 - 25 March, 2010
The World Congress of Internal Medicine 2010 Melbourne in conjunction with Physicians Week is coming around quickly. With an exciting and educational program in development this is a Congress that you should be sure not to miss.
Be sure to submit your abstract for consideration in either the WCIM 2010 Melbourne or Physicians Week 2010 programs before the deadline of 30 August 2009.
For more information on registration, abstract submissions and the exciting social program on offer, we encourage you to continue visiting the website. To receive regular updates on WCIM 2010 Melbourne in conjunction with Physicians Week, please visit the website and register your interest now.
Please be aware that the 2010 AFOEM Annual Scientific Meeting is part of the WCIM 2010 program.
Don't Forget to Submit Your Abstract
Abstract submissions for WCIM 2010 Melbourne are now open at the WCIM website. All Fellows are encouraged to submit and abstract for consideration in the program to show the world the great talent of Australia and New Zealand's physicians. Don't miss the opportunity to be a part of the biggest internal medicine congress in the Southern Hemisphere in 2010. As a host of WCIM, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians would like to showcase the knowledge and expertise that the RACP has to offer our international delegates.
Abstract submissions close on 18 September 2009, however, make sure you get in early so you don't forget and miss your opportunity!
We hope to receive your abstract soon!
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Did You Miss Physicians Week 2009? |
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Tsk Tsk!!
Not to worry, many of the sessions from Physicians Week 2009 were recorded and are now available for purchase. This educational and stimulating program was one not to be missed, so this is the ideal opportunity to catch up on what you missed out on.
To place an order or for more information, please visit the Physicians Week website and visit the home page.
Delegates who attended Physicians Week 2009 are also encouraged to purchase these CD's for a record of the great sessions and presentations made throughout the Congress.
Presentations from AFOEM's keynote speakers (Prof Steenland & Prof Aw) will be uploaded on the Faculty website in the coming few weeks.
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Progress With Training Curriculum 2011 |
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It Ain't Over Till The Er .... Lady Sings
The second draft of Training Curriculum 2011
was made available for comment at a meeting on 18 May. It was divided into chunks. Small teams of Fellows and trainees took each of these and submitted comments. Comments were also sought and received from members of the Australasian Faculty of Rehabilitation Medicine, as well as external bodies such as the RACP Chapter of Addiction Medicine, the Australian Institute of Occupational Hygienists and the Human Factors and Ergonomic Society of Australia. Comments are being collated and will be circulated within the AFOEM Education Committee prior to their meeting on 5 August. Once our Education Committee is satisfied, the document will be passed to the RACP Education Deanery for review of its educational adequacy. When their considerations are incorporated, it will go to the College Education Committee for ratification.
Training Curriculum 2011 is a large document – more than 350 pages. It incorporates the whole of the RACP Professional Qualities Curriculum because professional qualities such as communication, ethics, leadership and health advocacy are central to effective practice of occupational and environmental medicine. The curriculum has three stages – one basic and two advanced. They are called Stages A, B and C. The basic stage emphasises clinical knowledge and skills. The early advanced stage includes all the special features that distinguish occupational and environmental medicine – fitness and return to work, interacting with organisations, relevant law, assessment of work-related hazards, and environmental risks and incidents. The later advanced stage, named “Approaching consultancy”, takes these same special features to a higher level, e.g. communication
skills to a more public level, or requiring the development of a return to work policy as distinct from a plan for an individual worker.
Learning will require a mix of on-the-job experiences, a relevant university diploma, simulations and discussions at training meetings, and on-line and face-to-face interactions with educational supervisors and Faculty Fellows nominated for their particular expertise. It is proposed that there will be assessment required for completion of each stage. At Stage A assessment will focus on clinical knowledge and skills. The advanced stages will be assessed in similar ways to what is done at present – with the main written and practical examination at the end of Stage B, and the Ramazzini presentation and communication portfolio to complete Stage C.
One perceived shortcoming in our present assessment is that we do not sufficiently well appraise the progress of our trainees’ learning performance by what are referred to by educationalists as formative assessments or learning appraisals. Accordingly, we propose to introduce on-line self-assessments, sets of activities as part of trainee meetings and, for professional qualities, a requirement for annual multi-source feedback where a formalised set of information is gathered from people who work with and around a trainee.
Along with this, the role of mentor – or as it is now called, educational supervisor – will gradually change its shape. The fundamentals of the role will remain as ever it was – a guide, and at times a coach, to a trainee’s learning to practise this branch of medicine. However, the Faculty intends to offer more support to its educational supervisors through various on-line tools, a rotating pattern of activities in training meetings, and supervisor training including handling requests for information that go beyond one’s expertise, or having difficult conversations. The six-monthly trainee progress report will persist and there will be a minimum time in the program required before advanced assessments can be attempted.
One part of quality assurance in training is accreditation of settings for training. This is standard practice across other parts of the RACP but it has been difficult for our Faculty because our trainees are not part of a succession of trainees rotating through a major hospital service. Some employment opportunities are one-off and in situations like mines or military placements that operate for a limited period. The underlying need for quality assurance in training is more likely to be achieved by accrediting employment positions as our ‘settings for training’, than by accrediting ‘bricks-and-mortar’ sites. Our Faculty remains aware of the evolving considerations of the RACP Expert Advisory Group on accreditation and will follow a path that is both practicable and that fosters effective trainee development.
For trainees already in the program at the start of 2011, there will be fair transitional arrangements, probably extending for a period of three years. The maximum training period for the program covered by the new curriculum is likely to be eight years.
These changes will require much goodwill and effort by our Fellows and trainees. It is important that they occur so that our trainees can venture forth from our program into the future world of specialist medicine with confidence and pride in their relevant abilities to serve our New Zealand and Australian communities.
Finally, despite the efforts going into these changes for the future, the educational success of our present trainees is also very important to us. To this end, for those planning to sit for Faculty examinations this year, there is a guide to preparing for the examinations posted under trainee resources. For those preparing to sit for the examinations next year, there is an on-line learning needs analysis tool – paired for a trainee and his or her educational supervisor – and based on the AFOEM interim curriculum.
David Goddard
Education Project Officer
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AFOEM Marketing Subcommittee |
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Spin Doctors
Expressions of interest are requested for members of the AFOEM Marketing sub committee. The purpose of this committee is toinvestigate and advise AFOEM Council on marketing strategies for use by AFOEM to promote itself as a discipline and a faculty, identify all potential marketing targets (industrial, political, allied health, medical practitioners, medical schools, workers / unions) and prioritise, and recommend measurable goals, including resourcing and time-lines.
Please send a brief email outlining what you would bring to the sub committee to andrew.messner@racp.edu.au by 7/08/09. The members will be recommended by the chair of the subcommittee and appointed by the AFOEM Executive.
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Reading Corner |
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Violence In Heathcare - And Steps To Prevent It From Occuring
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Postgraduate Diploma in Healthcare |
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Its Never Too Late To Learn
The Diploma in Industrial Health course has been taught at the University of Otago since the 1960's and has been available in this distance learning format since 1999. The course is designed for both General Practitioners who have an interest in Occupational Medicine and those who want to follow the specialist career path.
The course has the following aims:
- To present the student with the learning opportunities which will develop their clinical, investigative and managerial skills in the context of industry and the work-place
- To assess the progress towards, and test achievement in, meeting the following competencies, which incorporate, but are not limited by, those competencies required by the Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental Medicine for training of Occupational Physicians
- Competency in Clinical Medicine and rehabilitation
- Ability to carry out a structured and comprehensive work-place assessment
- Management and communications skills
- Understanding of research methods and their application in evidence based occupational medicine
The course can be completed over two years, one paper (requiring a weekend in New Zealand) per semester, 4 papers in total.
For enrolled students, on line support is available on the "blackboard" platform, with access to online resources including (amongst many others) a full range of electronic journals; BMJ learning; Harrisons on line and Medline. Valuable assets to help you cover the competencies!
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RACP Policy & Advocacy Update |
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The Quality Health Care Conversation - Consultation in National Safety and Quality Framework
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in HealthCare (ACSQHC) has released a discussion paper on their proposed National Safety and Quality Framework. The framework is designed to guide action to improve the safety and quality of the care provided in all health care settings over the next decade.The proposed framework was developed in consultation with consumers, clinicians, and health service managers. The Quality Health Care Conversation aims to engage with a wider audience and seek their feedback on the directions established in the proposed National Safety and Quality Framework. We will use this feedback to prioritise the strategies listed in the discussion paper and to make recommendations for future action to improve the safety and quality of health care in Australia.
The Commission has included a list of specific questions on the website as guidance for contributors, and is seeking feedback from all health system stakeholder.
If you would like to contribute to this submission, then please send comments to Karen Steadman, at quality@racp.edu.au, or on (02) 9256 9632, before Monday 10, August 2009.
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Monash Certificate In Clinical Occupational & Environmental Medicine |
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A Big Success!
Twenty medical practitioners recently attended the first Monash Certificate in Clinical Occupational Medicine, held at the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists on St Kilda Rd in Melbourne from 22nd to 26th June 2009.
Dr David Fish and Prof Malcolm Sim of the Monash Centre for Occupational and Environmental Health (MonCOEH) coordinated the course, and experts across a range of relevant disciplines, from psychiatry and neurology to dermatology, rehabilitation and return to work made presentations and led practical sessions.
The course was designed to provide medical practitioners with the knowledge and skills to diagnose and manage common occupational injuries & diseases, document and investigate complex problems in occupational medicine, perform a medical assessment, write a medicolegal report, and to facilitate workplace health promotion.
Most of the attendees were from around Australia, but there were also physicians from New Zealand and Singapore in attendance. Many were members or trainees of the Australian Faculty of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (AFOEM) and the Royal Australasian College of General Practitioners (RACGP). The course was well received, as this feedback from a Sydney-based attendee shows:
“All the speakers were of the highest quality…I am sure that I speak for all those who were present in saying that we appreciated all the effort…I would recommend the course for all AFOEM trainees and for any Occupational Medicine Practitioner who wants to update their knowledge and examination skills.”
MonCOEH plans to run the course again in 2010. Visit the website for further information and updates.
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Chair, Medical School Accreditation Committee |
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Expressions of Interest
The Australian Medical Council Limited is a national standards body for medical education and training. Its purpose is to ensure that standards of education, training and assessment of the medical profession promote and protect the health of the Australian community.
The accreditation of Australian and New Zealand medical schools and medical courses is one of the principal functions of the Australian Medical Council. The Constitution of the Australian Medical Council provides for a Medical School Accreditation Committee to oversee the development of policy and to advise on the accreditation of medical schools and their medical courses.
Professor Michael Field’s term as Chair of the Committee ends in November 2010. The AMC Directors have established a Search Committee to assist in the appointment of a successor to Professor Field.
Further information:
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Climate Change and Health |
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Doctors for the Environment Australia
The World Health Organisation estimates that one quarter of global disease and one third of that in children is due to modifiable environmental factors. If humanity is to make progress in solving the major issues of our time, all sections of the community will need to contribute.
Doctors for the Environment Australia aims to utilise the skills of members of the medical profession to address the ill health resulting from damage to the natural environment at local, national and global levels. Our concerns range from the health aspects of climate change to the environmental aspects of children’s health and to the local cardio-respiratory effects of transport pollution.
Doctors for the Environment Australia is a voluntary organisation of medical doctors in all states and territories. We work to address the diseases – local, national and global – caused by damage to the earth’s environment. For example, climate change will bring to Australia an increased burden of heat stroke, injury from fire and storm, infectious diseases and social disruption and mental illness, whilst in the developing world it will bring famine and water shortage.
The medical profession has a proud record of service to the community. This record not only includes personal clinical care, but also involvement in global issues that threaten the future of humanity. We aim to use our scientific and medical skills to educate governments and industry, the public and our colleagues by developing educational materials such as Policies and Posters and by direct contact, in the endeavour to highlight the medical importance of our natural environment. To our patients we try to provide a role model in the care of the environment for this is part of a preventative health ethos.
The College has formed a Working Party on Climate Change. Our representative on the Working Party is Dr James Ross.
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Changed Your Contact Details Recently? |
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Postman Pat & His Black and White Cat
AFOEM hopes to maintain a lifelong relationship with you, but to do so it is important that we keep your up-to-date details. Please notify us if you have recently changed your contact details.
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Competition Time |
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We Need You
We are *still* seeking submissions for a catchy tagline that reflects the essence of occupational and environmental medicine.
Criteria for the catchphrase:
- No more than ten words
- Need to encapsulate the essence of the Australasian Faculty of Occupational & Environmental Medicine
- Be unique and represent the speciality of OEM
The AFOEM Council will make a decision on the best submission and the author of the winning catchphrase will receive an AFOEM tie and lapel pin.
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