Growing the medical education workforce in rural Victoria
Another fifty rural doctors have bolstered their teaching and supervisory skills this year, thanks to the Monash Rural Health Clinical Teaching and Education Pathway.
The Clinical Teaching and Education Pathway (or CTEP) is an award-winning three part program developed by Monash Rural Health’s Dr Lisa Hall and is now in its fourth year of delivery. The program is specifically designed to build the teaching and supervision capabilities of doctors working in regional healthcare settings, with a particular focus on upskilling early career doctors. Participation of rural doctors in the program is sponsored by the Gippsland and North West Regional Training Hubs.
Over fifty doctors from across Bendigo, Mildura and Gippsland completed the introductory workshop on teaching and learning, with 28 moving onto the second stage focused on supervision. This included completion of a full-day workshop, co-delivered by the Monash Centre for Scholarship in Health Education.
Dr Frank Dunley currently teaches Monash medical students on placement in Bendigo, in his role as a Surgical Hospital Medical Officer at Bendigo Health. He opted to progress to stage 2 of CTEP to be able to also support junior doctors at Bendigo Health.
“The CTEP course was an amazing day for learning and building up my strategies for supervision and mentoring. The group session was valuable to work with likeminded people with an interest in promoting positive and constructive feedback and supervision for junior doctors in our health system, with the shared goal of improving the learning culture of medicine,” said Frank.
“I plan to move forwards and undertake stage 3, as well as go on to complete the certificate and possibly a Masters down the track.”
Dr Nandrie Wassermann, who coordinates the third year of the Monash medical program in Sale participated in the program to strengthen her knowledge of medical education.
“Completing both an Introduction to Clinical Teaching and Learning and Quality Supervision and Clinical Education not only gave me a strong foundation in the theory of how we learn but also practical techniques to use with my students. I’ve really been able to incorporate these into my work daily. I feel better prepared to support my students, but also met like-minded colleagues, and formed new "academic friendships" with fellow educators.”
Dr Wassermann is currently completing Stage 3 of the Clinical Teaching and Education Pathway.
According to Dr Lisa Hall, CTEP provides an important professional development opportunity for rural doctors in the Loddon Mallee and Gippsland, recognising how important teaching is to medicine.
“We know that quality teaching and supervision helps build a strong local medical workforce. Our program enables doctors to develop skills in these areas and reflect on what makes a good teacher, and apply this new knowledge in a practical and supported way within their workplace.”
Rurally-based doctors interested in completing the Clinical Teaching and Education Pathway can submit an Expression of Interest or subscribe to the Hubs Highlights newsletter to be notified when 2025 dates are released.
Monash Rural Health Regional Training Hubs
The Monash Rural Health Regional Training Hubs facilitate speciality training and career development opportunities for junior doctors, to help them live, work and train rurally. The Monash Regional Training Hubs are supported by the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Rural Health Multidisciplinary Training Program.