This years Forum will be held in Melbourne at the Airport Hilton Hotel on Friday 4 July, 2008.

The Forum will showcase current Projects funded under the Scheme and support participants to reflect upon strategies for Specialist Medical Colleges to collaborate around the delivery of CPD and support for specialists practising in rural and remote Australia.

Around 50 people are expected to attend, including Specialist Medical College representatives, rural Fellows, and representatives from the Department of Health and Ageing.

The registration closing date for this event has been extended to June 6, 2008. Registration Forms have been sent to all Specialist Medical Colleges.

Click here to view the SSRS 2008 Forum Program.
 

Eight CPD Grants were recently awarded to individual specialists practising in rural and remote Australia to support access to CPD activities. These Grants will be supporting a range of CPD activities including specific up skilling activities and clinical attachments.

This will be the final allocation of Grant funds under Round Seven, Stream C of the Scheme.

The SSRS Project Management Unit will be evaluating Stream C to determine its effectiveness in supporting isolated specialists and to determine whether it should continue to be offered in future funding rounds. 

Picture: From left, Stream C Grant recipient, Dr Murali Narayanan (Paediatrician, Kalgoorlie WA), Chris Rule (SSRS), Melinda Keresztes (RACP Rural Project Officer), Gary Disher (SSRS)

 

The online learning modules developed by The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) have been receiving positive feedback from participants across the country. The modules developed to date cover the following topics:

• Producing Quality Reports: Standards for Communications in Radiology
• Neonatal and Paediatric Imaging
• Communication of Critical Test Results

Positive comments include:

“I did Module One last Friday and found it very helpful. I am now consciously trying to modify my reports appropriately.”

“The report writing module was very thought provoking. A lot of reports these days are too verbose - so much so that often one only reads the conclusion! I'm now changing aspects of my reports.”

The Modules will feature six education topics, approximately 1.5 hours long, and contain expert presentations and cases. A new topic will be released each month from April through to September, 2008.

RANZCR Rural CPD Network Facilitator, Dr Nick Pang from Imaging the South in Bunbury, WA has been instrumental in developing the online rural programs, as well as responding to network participant’s questions and offering assistance. Dr Pang hopes the Modules will continue to assist in supporting education that is timely and accessible to rural specialists. For further information please contact Pamela Taylor council@ranzcr.edu.au.
 

Associate Professor Graeme Maguire is the Project Lead on the current RACP SSRS Project addressing the Better management of Acute Rheumatic Fever and Rheumatic Heart Disease in northern Australia. A/Prof. Maguire has also been involved in several SSRS Projects from previous Rounds, again acting as the Project Lead in the ‘Northern Australia Community-acquired Pneumonia Project – (NACAPP)’ Project in ‘05-'06 and as a participant in the ‘Rural Organisation of Acute Stroke Teams (ROAST)’ Project in ‘06-'07.

“In regional and remote northern Australia, resources for clinical care are often stretched and the problems can appear daunting. SSRS provides the opportunity to consolidate networks (valuable when you can be the only physician for 2000km), identify common issues in local practice and develop systems and goals to address these. Networks, relationships, education and a shared commitment to quality practice and improvement. All these things help take the ‘remote’ out of ‘remote northern Australia’.”

The SSRS acknowledges A/Prof. Maguire for his dedication to the Program and his commitment to practice improvement initiatives in Northern Australia.
 

In preparation for future funding Rounds, the SSRS Program Management Unit have held focus groups with Melbourne and Sydney based Specialist Medical Colleges to discuss a revised Program Framework. These meetings have provided a great opportunity for staff and Fellows from across Colleges and Projects to come together and share learning’s, build relationships and provide helpful input into creating a better SSRS Program. The PMU hopes to make inter-College discussion groups a regular activity for any future funding rounds.

In addition, the SSRS PMU have exhibited at a number of College events including the RANZCOG Provincial Fellows ASM in Hervey Bay and the RACP Congress in Adelaide. Attendance at these events provides another valuable means for the SSRS to engage with rural Fellows and College staff with regard to the Program and also to promote SSRS Projects.

Picture: (RANZCOG Provincial Fellows ASM '08) From left, RANZCOG Project Coordinators Anna Maloney (Perinatal Mortality and Morbidity: learning from adverse events to improve care) and Ms Sue Fitzsimon (Colposcopy Quality Framework).