Mentoring and Welfare

Within the few weeks of placement you will hear from Dr Helen Kocent. Helen is our very caring and knowledgeable Welfare lead in the Anaesthetic department. She will pair you with a formal Mentor to get you connected. Appreciating mentoring models work best when invested in and driven by the mentee themselves you will have the open option to pick another mentor of your choosing.

Types of Mentors include the traditional Mentor, a Coach, or a Sponsor. They can support you in developing skills, creating a sense of belonging, providing counseling, advocating for you, building networks, and acting as a referee. Mentors may also act as a point to report incidence of bullying or harassment. It is important to choose the best person to fulfills these roles for you.

Aim to catch up with your Mentor regularly throughout placement.

Remember that life will occur; work issues and stress will occur to everyone. You'll never be alone. Mentors, Supervisors of Training, Consultants, and Fellows are all here to listen and help.


Epidural Analgesia Onboarding

Coordinators: Dr Nicole Sheridan and Dr Priya Rao

A formalised process is in place for Epidural Onboarding and Competence.
The requirements varies according to obstetric anaesthetic experience. 

Pre-reading is available in the Obstetric & Paediaric Anaesthesia Handbook as outlined under Information/Guidelines.

WH handbook OBSTETRIC January 2024.pdf


Part 1 Education

Coordinator:    Dr Stan Tay

Examiner:          Dr Julie Chan

Primary exam tutorials: Mondays 830 am - 1200 pm
(record as 0800-1300pm on timesheets)

Schedule: Schedule 2024.pdf


Trainees Post Fellowship Exams

If you have passed the fellowship exam, you can utilise your Tute time to do other non-clinical departmental tasks (such as audit or research). Please let Anaesthetic Rostering know if you are in this category.

Fellows can utilise 5 hours of Clinical Supported Time (CST) per week for their fellowship non-clinical roles.


Simulation Sessions

Simulation sessions within the Part 1 and 2 Education are held at the Simulation Centre, Sunshine Hospital. You will receive correspondence from the Simulation team on these including pre-readings

Location:
Simulation Centre, Level 2 WCHRE Building at Sunshine Hospital.

Professionalism and RSVPs:
Scrubs required. Get changed prior at Sunshine or JK theatres. 
Please RSVP to email correspondence from Simulation team. A high degree of resource and preparation is put into Simulation. Resources are allocated according to the number of participants

Certificates:
Provided via email for all SIM courses
ALS, CICO, Neonatal Resus can be signed off on TPS

Multidisciplinary Sim
On occasion trainees are allocated to Multidisciplinary Simulation within other craft groups, such as Obstetric, Paediatric, Trauma, and Theatre.

Website
http://whanaesthesia.org/


VOP Requests

Please keep track of your VOP, especially leading up to the end of a training period

Trainees are given input into the weekly roster, and we'll facilitate requests as best we can. All roster related matters should be emailed to:

[email protected] 

This shared email includes the principal fellow, heads of trainee supervision, and the administration assistants.

Requesting VOP

VOP requests are easiest to facilitate when rostered on  'Days'. Keep in mind that lists are dynamic and specific cases are not easily predicted ie carotid endarterectomies, however the rostering group know which lists specific cases are more likely to occur on. When making VOP requests, asking for lists on a specific days are difficult to accomodate with fair and balanced allocations.

Priority in VOP is given to trainees nearing an end of a training period.

Timing of requests

Rostering is completed behind the scenes in the proceeding week, before going through a review process. VOP requests are best made early in the proceeding week.

Syntax for requests:

Aim to use the following subject heading syntax in anaesthetic.rostering emails:

"Week commencing Monday dd/mm/yy"

Work Based Assessments

DOPS, Mini-CEX,  case-based discussions (CBDs),  Multi-Source Feedbacks can be done by any ANZCA registered consultants or fellows.

The department supports- and is well versed in- completing these.

Request to perform WBAs are universally welcomed and should be initiated by the trainees with the forms pre-populated.

It is best to complete WBAs contemporaneously with the assessor, or alternately to Send a Reminder when the form is pre-populated so the assessor is notified of it's submission.


Specialised Study Unit Supervisors

SSU supervisors are used for case-based discussions (CBDs), or to sign off specialised study units

SSU Western Assessor
1. General surgery, urological, gynaecological, and endoscopic surgery Pat Ronchi (Lead)
Georgi Imberger
Stan Tay
2. Head and neck, ENT, dental and ECT Martin Higgs (Lead)
Ray Tam
Candida Marane
Ying Chen
3. Intensive Care Forbes McGain (Lead)
4. Neurosurgery and Neuroradiology Ray Tam (Lead)
Simon Astegno
Ash Hague 
5. Obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia David Brownhill (Lead)
Liz Hessian
John Ozcan
Nicole Sheridan 
6. Ophthalmic procedures Kien Quach (Lead)
Nicole Sheridan
7. Orthopaedic Surgery Simon Astegno (Lead)
Colin Bense
Rafi Halim
8. Paediatric Anaesthesia Gabby Van Essen (Lead)
David Bramley
Simon Chong
Grace Huang
9. Thoracic Surgery Martin Higgs (Lead)
David Bramley
10. Vascular surgery and interventional radiology Helen Kocent (Lead)
Kien Quach
11. Cardiac Surgery and interventional cardiology David Bramely (Lead)
Martin Higgs


Scholar Role Activities

Scholar Role Supervisors:

David Bramley
Liz Hessian
Simon Chong
Georgie Imberger

Present a Topic; Appraise a Paper

Western is an easy place to Present a Topic or Appraise a Paper. 

The  Fortnightly MandM provides the perfect forum to present mandatory ANZCA scholar role activities Critical Appraisal of a Topic or Paper, or present an audit.

The Process:

  1. Contact the Safety and Quality team via the [email protected] to let them know you are interested in presenting. They will reserve you a spot for you at the M and M.

  2. A list of interesting papers and topics is maintained by the Safety and Quality team to help you select a Topic or a Paper.

  3. Contact one of the above Scholar Role Supervisors above to ensure one of them is present to assess.

  4. Assessment guidelines and forms are available from the ANZCA website.


Teach a Skill; Facilitate a Tutorial 

The department supports opportunities for trainees to Teach a Skill and Facilitate a Tutorial through in theatre supervision of medical students, residents, and junior trainees; through Education and Simulation; and through Medical student, Intern and Resident Teaching Programs.

The Process:

  1. Contact your Supervisor of Training, and/or Education and Simulation Teams for opportunities

  2. Determine your Scholar Role Tutor or Nominee via your SOT

  3. Assessment guidelines and forms are available from the ANZCA website


Complete an Audit 

The department has extensive resources to conduct research and audit activities including:

  • Professor David Storey, University of Melbourne
  • Members of senior medical staff with PhDs and University affiliations
  • 4 research officers
  • Affiliation with the ANZCA Trials Group
  • Western Health office of research

Particular areas of interest include:

  • Sustainability in health care
  • Perioperative risk modification
  • Medical education and training

The Process regarding projects and department publications:

  1. Contact Dr Liz Hessian and Michelle Haeusler

  2. View the research notice board in the department Footscray

  3. View the research sections of the department’s intranet and internet pages

  4. Assessment guidelines and forms are available from the ANZCA website


Department Meetings

Mortality and Morbidity Meeting

Fridays 07.00 am fortnightly

Attendance via Zoom. An email reminder and reoccurring link is sent out fortnightly.

Record of attendance is registered during the meeting via a QR code. Proof of attendance is then emailed to trainees. Add your attendance into TPS for Participation in Existing Quality Assurance programs.