RMOA Update - Term 1, 2023
What have we been up to since the start of the year?
At current, RMOA has 125 paying RMOA members
Education
NEW RMOA Website - all brand-new in 2023 and filled to the brim with resources
NEW Common After Hours Calls in intern orientation & St George intern education
The highest rated activity across all of intern orientation
NEW Med Students x JMOs WhatsApp group
Smaller Red Resident groups + a large RR JMO Questions group
NEW Free on-site lunch for Red Residents program
Built Tutor Database for UNSW clinical school
Socials
NEW 2x intern exclusive socials during orientation (in addition to the end-of-term Summer Soiree that interns were invited to): The Kogarah Hotel, The Bar at the end of the Wharf > The Argyle, Keg & Brew
Orientation: intro to RMOA and hospital tours, gave away three pairs of fun scrubs
Mid-term party: Chinatown Noodle King > Babylon
End-of-term party: The Imperial
Weekly social caged soccer (started by interns last year)
Free sponsored lunch at St George and Sutherland Hospitals by MJA Locums
NEW Instagram account
Common Room
Monthly (sometimes split into fortnightly) common room food drops
We haven’t let this die, and we’re committed to doing this year long
NEW Coffee machine for Sutherland hospital
NEW Board games for both common rooms on their way
NEW Free on-site lunch in celebration of Sydney World Pride
NEW Merchandise - RMOA rainbow water bottles and RMOA retractable ID reels
Keep an eye out for more merchandise dropping soon! (hint: you can feel the RMOA logo laser engraved into the wood)
Other assorted initiatives
NEW Membership perks on the website (keep an eye out for more coming soon!)
NEW Sponsorship Prospectus
Ongoing course reimbursements
2x in-person RMOA executive meetings
Coordinated committee applications
JMO Rotations spreadsheet
NEW Car parking spreadsheet
Term Rovers now updated directly through MedApp
NEW RMOA Calendar with term dates and important deadlines
Advocacy
JMO Teaching - intern teaching moved to Wednesday lunchtimes (not 8:30am), and commitment that all teaching would be catered
Fair rostering - ensuring JMOs don’t have to sort their own roster in future, and rosters are flexible around other commitments (e.g. conferences) where possible
Fair overtime - providing additional support for JMOs during particularly busy periods to avoid excessive overtime and burnout
Paperless pathology - fed back poor communication on the roll-out and the mass confusion that results
RMO accreditation of residency
Residents were first informed St George BPT Network did not intend to allow accreditation of PGY2 as first year of BPT several weeks into their residency
After contacting all other Networks, it was apparent this opportunity would remain available at all other Networks across the state except Westmead
Residents advocated strongly against this given the complete lack of consultation, and as a result the St George Network Governance Committee held an extra-ordinary meeting to discuss our concerns
Concerns raised included:
Autonomy & informed consent - inability to make informed decisions about where we complete our training based on the opportunities available
Justice - given St George RMOs were knowingly disadvantaged compared to other hospitals, from the perspective of training opportunities, ability to engage in education activities including the RACP lecture series, and the ability to apply for jobs given some hospitals have stated they intend to offer some positions only for RMOs that have accredited the year
Non-maleficence - significant erosion of trust for our governing committees, impacts on JMO wellbeing and burnout, and resultant JMO drop-out from the decision that will result in increased after shifts for the remaining JMOs (given relievers will be pulled off evening coverage to cover JMOs that have left, meaning everyone will have to pick up additional after hour shifts)
On the Friday of Week 5 of residency, St George residents were informed that, despite the above concerns, the decision remained unchanged
We do not speak for the St George Network Governance Committee, and their reasoning for this should be sought directly - their contact details can be found on the RACP website
However, from the understanding of the RMOs, the predominant concerns relate to our terms not meeting the RACP accreditation standards
Unfortunately, all of the NGC’s assertions did not align with what RMOs have found in the RACP accreditations, and at several instances directly conflicted with what was said by the standards
RMOs have requested further clarification from the Network Governance Committee, but further discussion on this has been declined
RMOs have escalated this to the St George Director of Medical Services, the AMA, HETI, RACP, and ASMOF, but have ultimately been told it is the St George Network Governance Committee’s decision
RMOs are currently advocating at higher levels for change to prevent these issues from occurring again
As a direct result of this, some RMOs have left the network, although not without significant personal sacrifice, including the ability to take annual leave as 44 weeks is required for accreditation and the St George Network Governance Committee has declined to accredit the first eight weeks of residency
RMOs are deeply disappointed by the lack of transparency and the harms this decision has caused
Feel free to contact the St George RMOA about any these updates, or if you have any other ideas or feedback