Is there any possibility of using the PRINT term as a "catch-up" term to complete assessments/teaching/clinical activities missed during these months?
This may be a possibility for some students. We will be looking at the timings dependent on which clinical attachments are available.
There was also a 6th year question about using the selective term to make up any components that you miss. That's exactly what we want to do. We're going to be moving things around to adapt for any crucial elements you might have missed. Please be reassured no one is going to be asked to do any assessments that are unreasonable and at the same time we will take all reasonable steps to enable you to become interns next year.
I have heard that NSW health have proposed a “sub-intern” role for final year medical students. Is this true? If so, what will this entail?
There are currently discussions underway about what the health care system will need over coming weeks and months. We're clearly in a situation where it appears there is going to be a large volume of patients requiring acute clinical care in our hospital system.
The possibility of a voluntary paid clinical role for final year students in the health system is currently under discussion with NSW Health and other medical schools. We are trying to find a way to do this in a safe environment for students who wish to undertake this role and who are able to. It is now called an Assistant in Medicine role.
We believe that that the roles currently being framed would fit well with the graduate capabilities that are needed for our students to graduate so that that students who voluntarily took on those roles would be on track to meet their graduate capabilities.
We would want those if students took on those roles to be accredited as part of their medical training. We also want them to have adequate support at each location and to have access to educational resource is as well.
Before any of our students could take on that role, they would also need a brief, intensive course, with relevant modules/skills that they will need. Some of this will be online and some will be delivered on site, such as PPE training to ensure that they were safe in terms of their user PPE.
Are 6th year students getting fast tracked into the workforce like the UK and other countries final year medicine students?
It's important to remember that the academic year here is different to those countries. The northern hemisphere is coming towards the end of their academic year and we are just at the beginning of ours, so at the moment that is not being considered.
Additionally, there have been discussions in our Faculty, HETI which controls medical training for junior graduates in New South Wales and at the Federal Ministry of Health and Australian Medical Council level. The discussions so far seem to be against the notion of early graduation at this stage, and certainly we couldn't pursue that as a medical school without the support of state and federal accrediting bodies.
The local health district said they would stop letting students come to clinics/wards, should we cancel OSCE?
Firstly, we acknowledge it's been an incredibly tough few weeks for a lot of students. We totally understand that, and we want stress that you're supported by the Faculty.
The good news is that the NSW Health is incredibly supportive of maintaining clinical placements and attachments and their understanding is that you're a vital part of the health care team and you should be embedded. You should be helpful, and you should be learning and all of this heading towards completion of your program. So, although we know there are hiccups and there are various places that have special considerations that will perhaps stop you from doing what you would normally do or having the attachment you would normally have. We will be shuffling around a huge amount of stuff to make sure that we can get things done for you wherever possible.
