A prescription for a healthier planet
January 9, 2018
Doctors for Refugees
January 9, 2018
EVENT
The annual Doctors-in-Training Awards celebrate not only the achievements of the profession’s best junior doctors, but it also recognises the teachers and managers who support them.
It was a night of celebration and a chance for junior doctors to relax, mingle and toast their peers.
The AMA (NSW) / ASMOF (NSW) Alliance, together with sponsors NSW Health, HETI, Cutcher&Neale, and Sydney Medical Specialists hosted the cocktail party, which was again held in the swish surrounds of The Ivy’s Sunroom.
Special guests included DIT Committee Chair Dr Tessa Kennedy, as well as the Chair of ASMOF’s State Medical Officers Group, Dr Alan Pham, who emceed the event.
AMA (NSW) President, Prof Brad Frankum, was joined on stage by ASMOF (NSW) President Dr Tony Sara, along with HETI’s Claire Blizard and NSW Health’s Leanne O’Shannessy to present the awards.
There were many outstanding candidates in each of the award categories this year, making the judges’ job particularly difficult.
Despite the challenges, they were able to see a path clear to deciding on the following winners…
DIT Manager of the Year
Sponsored by ASMOF (NSW) and HETI, the DIT Manager of the Year was presented by Dr Sara to Linda Bell.
Dozens of doctors-in-training submitted nominations for Linda Bell, who is the Network Manager and Education Support Officer for Western Sydney Local Health District.
Nominators for Ms Bell described her as being ‘like a mother’ to pre-vocational and vocational surgical trainees at Westmead Hospital.
Another described her as, “Truly one of a kind. Her care, compassion and commitment to her job, colleagues and surgical trainees is genuine and admirable. Never have I met someone who will go out of her way at any time of the day or night to help you. I wouldn’t be where I am without her support. She is one of those few people you meet and can’t help but feel warmth and comfort after every interaction – no matter what the circumstance.”
Ms Bell’s round the clock care for junior doctors, her high level of organisation and her unbiased rostering system also set her apart.
“Take one look at her outrageous collection of colour coded folders, her complex excel sheets and meticulously planned events,” one nominator commented about her heightened sense of organisation.
Another said, “She looks after a total of 26 SRMOs, as well as current and alumni registrars. To say that she has a lot on her plate is indeed an understatement. Her dedication and contribution to each individual trainee is difficult to describe. It is sometimes mathematically impossible to fit that amount of hours into a day.”
The finalists for this award were Stephen Legge, Debbie Liversidge, Sue Alexander and Gillian Green.
Teacher of the Year
The second award, which was sponsored by ASMOF (NSW), was presented to Dr Hari Nandakoban (who was overseas on the awards night). His colleague, Prof Nicholas Shackel, accepted the award on his behalf.
Dr Nandakoban’s nomination was widely supported by senior medical and allied staff involved in teaching and research at Liverpool Hospital and he is universally respected by all staff, who recognise his contribution to medical education.
Dr Nandakoban had a vision of raising the standard of teaching at Liverpool Hospital to the highest in NSW.
Despite the challenges of competing service demands and stretched clinical resources in one of the busiest hospitals in NSW, he succeeded in creating a cultural change in the provision of clinical teaching for Basic Physician Trainees.
Under Dr Nandakoban’s guidance, BPT training was transformed and there is now an 80%-plus pass rate at Liverpool Hospital.
One of his nominators remarked: “Hari is a well-respected renal physician and medical educator by doctors-in-training at all levels. BPTs and RMOs at Liverpool and outside of the network recognise the support provided to JMOs by the training program that he leads. Many DITs return to Liverpool Hospital for their advanced training. DITs become key educators, many in the BPT unit, and cite Hari as their role model.”
Dr Nandakoban also runs a weekly journal club for BPTs, and has developed two awards that recognise academic excellence and good physician qualities. Further, Dr Nandakoban’s involvement in teaching includes lecturing, medical student training and running specialty courses.
His most recent achievement, and possibly the most significant, has been the development of the Three Tier Team model, which has been approved to commence in 2018. In light of all his achievements, it was a pleasure to present him with the Teacher of the Year Award.
The finalists for this award were Dr Steven Joung, Dr Lisa Dark, Dr Wenjie Zhong, and Dr Kenneth Nunn.
Registrar of the Year
Sponsored by NSW Health, the Registrar of the Year Award was presented to Dr Khushboo Baheti.
Dr Baheti is an advanced trainee in psychiatry at Westmead Hospital. She is highly regarded by her colleagues for her hardworking attitude and passion for psychiatry.
She is a strong advocate for patients and is motivated to reduce the stigma and discrimination of those living with mental illness. Dr Baheti displays empathy, compassion and an uncommon initiative. She is always keen to work with her patients to apply evidence-based principles to help them achieve their goals in recovery and life.
One nominator described her collaborative approach towards working with patients.
“She has strong recovery oriented focus in her patient care and believes in empowering the patients so that they can make important decisions of life with adequate guidance. Dr Baheti respects her patients as well as the members of multidisciplinary team she works with.”
Dr Baheti also serves as the registrar representative on the Western Area’s Network Governance Committee and is a member of the NSW Association of Psychiatry Trainees. She represents her colleagues and is often looked upon to advocate issues of interest on their behalf.
Another nominator commented on Dr Baheti’s teaching skills.
“Dr Baheti is an excellent teacher and has received uniform praise from medical students, more junior colleagues and her peers. She is particularly adept at raising awareness of psychiatry and its growing career options with medical students and her contributions to journal club and rounds see her educative efforts extended to more senior staff.”
Dr Baheti was one of only two registrars in NSW selected by the NSW Mental Health Commission to attend the Supporting the Promotion of Activated Research and Knowledge (SPARK) workshop and the International Initiative of Mental Health Leadership conference due to her capacity to make positive changes in the field of psychiatry.
The finalists for this award were Dr Amy Polmear, Dr Jasmin Tilling, Dr Emma Bowcock and Dr Christopher Go.
JMO of the year
The Winner of the JMO of the Year award, which is sponsored by NSW Health and HETI, was Dr Tom Melhuish.
Currently doing his training at Wagga Wagga Rural Referral Hospital, Dr Melhuish is pursuing a career in Intensive Care.
His colleagues note his excellent clinical skills, as well as his calm, reassuring demeanour and willingness to lend a hand to others.
“Tom’s knowledge is exemplary. Although I have experienced an additional year as a doctor, I have found myself regularly deferring to his expertise. It is reassuring when I hear that Tom is covering the ICU during my nights on call as surgical registrar. During Tom’s time in the emergency department, his referrals were accurate and well thought out,” said one nominator.
In his role as the RMOA President, Dr Melhuish works tirelessly to advocate for junior doctors, regularly meeting with hospital executives and medical administration. Dr Melhuish was instrumental in developing a health and wellbeing support program for junior doctors, which was recently nominated for a local health district award. In addition, Dr Melhuish has been heavily involved in teaching and medical education, and is noted for running impromptu bedside tutorials.
One nominator noted, “Tom is a vocal advocate for JMO rights within the hospital. He is always happy to approach medical administration and work with them in solving grievances or to discuss improvements to JMO education and training. This year, for example, we as a JMO cohort wanted to make some changes to our teaching sessions. He advocated for these changes with medical administration, resulting in a change to the format of JMO teaching, and incorporation of new teaching topics.”
The finalists for this award were Dr Samantha Bobba, Dr Kenneth Cho, Dr Vannessa Leung, Dr John Cherry and Dr Anosh Sivashanmugarajah.