Abstract
EDUCATION
Following the implementation of the organisational review, a flurry of interviews has resulted in three new appointments to the Education area to assist with the implementation of the Training and Assessment Regulations and AMC Accreditation.
This position is funded by the Department of Health and Ageing to develop and implement a framework for promoting the benefits of rural training to prospective trainees. Nick has previously worked on a number of related projects including the Supporting Rural Counsellors scheme, Communication Skills for Health Professionals and Eating Disorder (Intervention and Management for Health Professionals) CD-ROM project.
Last but not least,
The College welcomes the appointment of Cynthia, Nick and David as they settle into their new and demanding roles.
POLICY
In his Presidential Address in 2001, Jonathan Phillips recognised the importance of developing a health policy unit within the College. Thus the idea was born and, over the last two years, Council has endorsed a policy options paper, has appointed a Policy Committee and has allocated funding to establish a policy position within the secretariat.
The aim of the Policy Unit is to enhance the College's role in the area of proactive policy development. Our goal is to identify new policy directions early and to play a role in shaping them rather than simply reacting to them as they are announced.
Following extensive advertising and interviewing, the Policy Committee is pleased to announce the appointment of
Dr Stevens has a strong background in policy with health and educational organisations. Her PhD addressed the impact of markets, technology and pedagogy on government and institutional educational policies. Working at the RACGP as quality improvement manager, she shaped policies for selection and training of medical registrars. As a manager at the University of Melbourne and at Deakin Australia she developed policies for different stakeholder needs (including government) as well as doing marketing, resolving student appeals and managing a large scholarships budget. She has also been an AusAID education consultant in South Africa looking at policies on course strategy and organisational systems.
Dr Stevens’ work in health practice began as an academic, spending eight years at Deakin University in nurse education. This included producing a video on psychiatric art. At La Trobe University she consulted on e-health and tele-health projects. At the Department of General Practice, University of Melbourne, she worked in postgraduate medical education program development including attending to course accreditation needs.
In addition, she has completed a Master of Arts, doctoral course work in statistics, a Diploma in Education and a Bachelor of Music. For some light relief, she also enjoys swimming, bushwalking, speaking a little French and playing the piano.
On behalf of the Committee, I would like to extend to Dr Stevens a very warm welcome to the College. We look forward to working with her on the many policy challenges ahead.
Also joining the College in early October was
DATA MANAGEMENT
It will come as know surprise to Fellows and Trainees to learn that, like many other health organisations, the College is under increasing pressure to enhance the quality and sophistication of its data management. In order to meet the many challenges we face — the introduction of the new College training program, the AMC accreditation and the AMWAC requirements, just to name a few — a thorough review and reconfiguration of the College's information systems is required. For that reason, the College has invested in the creation of a position within the Secretariat of