The monthly SRH Educational Technology In-service Program is now online, with videos, PowerPoints and other resources available for each of the in-services conducted.

Video recordings of the presentations are available on the SRH website.

Alongside each presentation, there is a feedback link. After you have viewed a presentation and/or looked the resources, could you please provide feedback?

If you have any questions or would like to present on a matter in the in-service series, please contact Julie Willems on 03 5128 1030 or email July.Willems@monash.edu.

Those keen to take advantage of the Learning and Teaching Travel Grants will need to make sure their applications are in by the end of the month.

The scheme is designed to assist academic staff to attend and/or present papers at conferences that will develop their educational skills and teaching and learning research activity.

The grants are allocated by the Office of the Deputy Dean (Education) on a competitive basis. Some 20 grants will be allocated in this round.

The closing date for applications is Friday 30 November. Round one 2013 will cover attendance at conferences between January and June 2013.

For more details, see the guidelines and application form.

The availability of the hi-fidelity simulation models for clinical skills scenarios, including the newcomer Sim Newbie as well as SimMan, has taken off in Mildura.

Howard Cook and Kristy Allen have facilitated a number of training sessions for nursing staff from both Mildura Base Hospital and Mildura Private Hospital.

Sim Newbie has a weekly date with local midwifery staff while Howard and Kristy also transported SimMan to a training day ‘Immunisation Updates for Practice Nurses’, working on scenarios involving Anaphylaxis.

Regular bookings are being established for Sea Lake, Manangatang, Ouyen and Robinvale health professionals, particularly following the end of academic semesters.

Warragul students have again performed well in the annual John Desmond Prize in Occupational Medicine, open to all Year 3B MBBS students across Monash.

All nine Warragul students took part and passed with marks ranging from credit to high distinction. The two who achieved high distinctions were Margaret Young and Liying Chen.

The efforts of the group were mentioned in the final report, which stated: “Superior performance in this examination was achieved by the candidates from Warragul and Cabrini followed by The Alfred and Box Hill, followed by Southern Health at Monash Medical Centre, Dandenong and Casey.”

The two students who achieved high distinctions in the John Desmond Prize, Mararet You (left) and Liying Chen

The John Desmond Prize is donated by Drs Robyn Horsley and Peter Desmond, who asked that the Prize be named in honour of their late son, John Desmond, who died in infancy.  Robyn practises occupational medicine as a specialty and finds it to be a family-friendly and diverse area of medicine.

The objectives of the John Desmond Prize in Occupational Medicine are to encourage students to contemplate occupational medicine as a career and, secondly, to encourage students to acquire the knowledge, skills and attitude needed to effectively practise occupational medicine as part of any general or specialist medical practice.

Warragul students have also celebrated their year together with a ‘last day’ morning tea, when the John Desmond Prize certificates were handed out.

The reputation of Bendigo Regional Clinical School’s Trauma Day has been upheld with yet another successful event.

More than 30 enthusiastic Year 3 and Year 5 medical students arrived ready to be put through their paces, with Simulated Learning Environment Clinical Educators Adele Callaghan and Cathy Driver ready to guide them through the day.

Dr Diana Badcock kicked the day off with a relevant and practical revision of primary and secondary survey. By the end of her session, the students were dreaming about Airway, (with cervical stabilization!), breathing, and circulation.

Diana’s innovative presentation design ensured that each and every participant was able to contribute to and share intellectual material. (more…)

New arrival: going through the intubation simulation training session are, from left, Dr Suri Hariprakash, Dr Chellam Kirubakaran, Dr Dan Turn, Associate Professor Fiona Wright, and Laerdal trainer Amy Dearsley going through the intubation simulation training session.

Amy Dearsley from Laerdal Melbourne spent two days in Mildura installing new additions to the Simulated Learning Environment and training key staff in their correct use.

Scenarios which are used in teaching sessions cover a range of situations including, for the Sim New Born, Resuscitation with Positive-Pressure Ventilation and Chest Compressions, Resuscitation with Positive-Pressure Ventilation and Endotracheal Intubation and Care of the Infant with Asthma for SimNewB.

The new scenarios for the sim baby covered areas including Care of the Infant with Asthma, Pediatric Nasogastric Tube Insertion for SimBaby and Management of the Child with a Bradycardic Episode.

The range of new scenarios will add substantially to the learning opportunities provided by the sim lab.

One of the MMI interviews last year.

While some areas are looking forward to a quieter time during mid-semester break, staff at Gippsland Medical School are gearing up for two of the busiest days of the year, the Multiple Mini Interviews (MMIs) for applicants hoping for a place in the 2013 cohort.

Over two days, 130 applicants will be interviewed. There will be 56 interviewers including staff from SRH, Gippsland and Clayton campuses, current students and community volunteers.

A team of Year A students will be on hand to assist with coordination and to chat to applicants and calm their nerves. Staff will be assisting either as interviewers or with coordination on the days.

The MMIs are the culmination of a year of hard work for the GMS Admissions team, Judy and Lauren, led by Dr Marg Hay, Director of Admissions. The intention is to select the best possible students within the pool of applicants, while increasing the numbers of rural, particularly Gippsland-based, students offered places.

The year-long process for applicants begins in January when they register for the GAMSAT. After sitting in March, applicants apply through GEMSAS (Graduate Entry Medical Schools Admissions System) preferencing the Medical Schools they wish to attend. Judy and Lauren then work with QTAC (Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre) to manage the simulations and rank and select those lucky few who make it to interview. After interviews comes the nail-biting waiting period for applicants prior offers being released in October.

International interviews this year have already taken place in Singapore, Canada, Malaysia and Gippsland, with 78 international applicants interviewed before last week.

The MMI originated from McMaster University in 2001 and now plays a heavy role in the selection of medical students in Australia.

Gippsland Medical School would like to thank staff from School of Health sites for their assistance as interviewers.

Marg Simmons

Dr Marg Simmons has addressed lecturers in the Monash Sustainability Institute on a new module used for Year A graduate medical students at Gippsland Medical School.

Marg gave a presentation called Teaching Health and Sustainability to lecturers at Clayton on the module which introduces the students to the topic of Sustainability and Health.

The presentation was part of the Education for Sustainability (EfS) Module for academic staff undertaking the Graduate Certificate in Academic Practice and was based on her work on introducing a module on sustainability. The module explores issues such as sustainability in the healthcare profession; the impacts a changing environment might have on society and the health care system; and the notion of healthy and sustainable communities.

Monash University is very committed to sustainability in all of its practices – as reflected by its inclusion in the university’s mission statement – and is therefore keen that its staff embed sustainability across the board as well incorporating innovative teaching approaches to fulfil this endeavour.

Professor Geoff Rose, who led the EfS module, commented that such teaching “exemplifies the tactical approach to education renewal which Marg sees as critically important to embedding sustainability in all education programs at Monash.”

He added: “Participants at the presentation found your presentation to be very valuable and I believe it will be very influential in motivating them to embark on a similar journey.”

The elements of art and science and how they work together to support healthcare simulation will be the focus of the next in the School of Rural Health Technology In-service series.

Professor Debra Nestel will be exploring the concept in the session, titled ‘The art and science of audiovisual capture and replay in healthcare simulation’ held on Wednesday 17 October from 1 pm to 2 pm.

The session will be via a recorded videoconference. Those interested can participate in person by travelling to MUDRIH, Moe, or via video or audio link-up.

To join in via video:

• From inside Monash: 35929
• From outside Monash: 35929@monash.edu or 130.194.20.3 then enter conference 29

To join the conference from a telephone (audio only):

• From a Monash phone: 35929
• From outside Monash: +61 3 990 35929

If you have any questions, please contact Julie Willems at Julie.Willems@monash.edu or leave a message on (03) 5128 1030.

The monthly School of Rural Health Educational Technology In-service Program is now online on the school intranet. Videos, PowerPoints and other resources are available for each of the in-services conducted.

To watch the video recordings of the presentations and/or view a copy of the associated resources for each, go to the in-service page on the intranet.

There is also a feedback link alongside each presentation, and your feedback on the presentations and the various resources is welcomed.

If you  have any questions or would like to present on a matter in the in-service series please contact Julie Willems on +61 3 5128 1030 or email Julie.Willems@monash.edu