Transition to practice programs

Graduates, interns, and residents in their first years of clinical practice

150 graduates, interns, and residents took part in transition to practice programs at Peninsula Health in Allied Health, Medicine, Mental Health, Midwifery, Nursing and Pharmacy in 2021. These programs support clinicians during their first years of practice, providing an environment where they can consolidate and further develop their knowledge, skills, and competence. The programs include group orientation, dedicated clinical support, targeted education, wellbeing and peer support and debriefing opportunities.

ALLIED HEALTH

Physiotherapy has employed its highest number of new graduate physiotherapists in 2022, most of whom completed placements with us across 2020-2021. For many, the transition to practice has been further aided by opportunities to join the surge workforce and work as allied health assistants at Peninsula Health during their studies.

The Podiatry transition to practice program continues to grow from strength-to-strength, as the podiatrists from our two new graduate positions have made significant contributions to our department and the health service over the year. Rachael Wong, one of new graduate podiatrists, not only achieved her endorsement for scheduled medicines in under 12 months but was also the winner of the ‘Golden Foot Award’. This is a peer-nominated award within the Podiatry Department recognising the podiatrist who most consistently demonstrates the Peninsula Health values. This is a tremendous achievement and a reflection of Rachael’s determination and the strength of our graduate program.

MEDICINE

There are over 430 doctors in-training employed across Peninsula Health, including 42 interns in their first postgraduate year, and over 160 hospital medical officers (HMOs) (in second and third postgraduate years). The Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (PMCV) accredits Peninsula Health to train junior doctors in their first two, postgraduate (prevocational years).

Last year has been notable in the medical education department with the commencement of our new Medical Education Officer, Iresha Klinbail, and Director of Clinical Training, Dr Aisling Griffin. Their enthusiasm and passion for the development of the junior staff education and wellbeing have already attained significant achievements in the last 6 months. Following the redesign of the intern and HMO weekly education programmes, moving to an online platform has seen an increase in attendance. Following feedback from last year’s participants, we have also introduced new topics from the previous year, including ultrasound guided cannulation, perioperative management and cross-cultural communication. Having this online platform allows us to record sessions for our doctors who are unable to attend on the day, ensuring we support them to achieve continued education and learning. The development of the new Learning Management System will also complement this and facilitate ongoing self-development and learning for all staff. We also look forward to the long-awaited return of practical sessions in the Simulation Centre, with interns able to access skills based education every month, and HMOs will be offered bi-monthly skills based sessions.

The creation of the Junior Medical Staff education working group mid-way through last year has increased engagement and facilitation with all levels of junior staff. Chaired by the Director of Clinical Training, the working group aims to engage with and harness the energy and vision of junior doctors in developing and improving services, education and training at Peninsula Health. We look forward to enhancing our partnership with the working group to see our goals come to fruition, in particular the implementation of the Medical Educator Model (MEM) and mentoring programs.

It was a wonderful end to the intern clinical year with the nominations flooding in for the ‘Intern of the Year’ award. We received a wide spread of nominations, with a number of staff commenting that they couldn’t choose a single candidate as many felt they had excelled. Congratulations again to all. We look forward to developing this further in the year ahead.

As we say goodbye to one year and hello to the new clinical year, we find ourselves welcoming a large number of new HMOs, especially those in their first employment in Australia, or those returning to practice after some time

away from medicine. We are working hard to support this cohort with the development of a supervision structure and International Medical Graduate Education programme. We look forward to continuing the development of our services, education and training to support our junior doctors at Peninsula Health.

NURSING AND MIDWIFERY

85 graduate nurses completed the program in 2021 including general, midwifery and mental health. 96% of these graduates remained with Peninsula health on completion of their program to continue as a valued member of our team. The program enabled graduate nurses and midwives to consolidate their knowledge and skills into practice.

A large part of their learning came from experience in the clinical environment, where they were supported by educators, clinical support nurses and clinical staff. They also had opportunities to develop non-technical skills aligned with the Peninsula Health values including communication, teamwork, leadership, problem solving and critical thinking.

The pandemic continued to provide challenges to the new graduates as personal protective equipment (PPE) and physical distancing became a normal part of healthcare. Educators and clinical support nurses provided direct support on the ward whilst embracing technology, which provided the flexibility of increased communication and support. Regular debriefs were held online allowing grads from all sites to meet, reflect on their practice and share challenges and highlights. Instant messaging via ‘Team App’ helped to break the barriers of physical distancing.

Three out of four dedicated learning and development days were held online. As the pandemic eased, we were pleased to be able to provide a face-to-face session for our final learning and development day, and meet in small groups for the first time. This was held in collaboration with Monash University, strengthening our tertiary ties.

Congratulations to the following award winners:

• Award of Excellence in Nursing: Sharee Allen

• Award of Excellence in Mental Health Nursing: Mia Hunt

• Award of Excellence in Midwifery: Amelia Redburn

PHARMACY

In 2021, the pharmacy intern program was transformed to deliver a greater (>70%) clinical experience, aligning with other Victorian health services and successfully preparing our interns to become clinical pharmacists. Furthermore, we were successful in securing an additional intern position as part of the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services expansion of pharmacy internships in hospitals. As part of the program, our interns undertake a small scale project. 2021 projects were:

• A study of paediatric anaphylaxis management on discharge from the emergency department in a metropolitan hospital.

• A quality study of the management of continuous Vancomycin in patients admitted to Hospital In The Home services

• A single study of vancomycin use in haemodialysis patients

RADIOLOGY

Congratulations to our radiography supervised practitioner for successfully completing their transition to practice training.