Remote Vocational Training Stream

MUNGINDI IS A SMALL TOWN ON THE

QyEENSLAND/N EW SOUTH WALES

BORDER, ABOUT TWO HOURS WEST OF

GOONDIWINDI. IN 1999 THE LOCAL

HOSPITAL'S MEDICAL SUPERINTENDENT

WITH RIGHT OF PRIVATE PRACTICE WAS

DR CHRISTIAN ROWAN. CHRISTIAN

WAS FULFILLING THE SERVICE.

COMMITMENTS OF HIS QyEENSLAND

HEALTH SCHOLARSHIP. A GREGARIOUS

YOUNG MAN WITH A "BEATLES MOP

TOP" AND AN ENVIABLE FLASH OF WHITE

TEETH, HE WANTED TO ATTAIN VR BUT

DID NOT WANT TO LEAVE HIS TOWN TO

DO SO.

PAT GIDDINGS IS THE PROGRAM MANAGER/EDUCATION COORDINATOR FOR THE REMOTE VOCATIONAL TRAINING SCHEME.

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VOCATIONAL TRAINING

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By Pat Giddings

"Sean, Mungindi's on the phone!"

P rior to Christian's tenure in Mungindi there hadbeen a string of short-term locums for many

years. It was only a few years since the providernumber legislation had been introduced and younggraduates had to undertake the RACGP trainingprogram to achieve fellowship and, in turn, VR.Christian questioned the requirement for himto leave Mungindi in order to enter the training

program.Mter a stand-off with the system and uproar

from Mungindi's townsfolk at the prospect oflosingtheir doc, political intervention looked inevitable.However, it was fortuitous that Mungindi was partof the then Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson'selectorate. A series of public meetings lead toDeputy Prime Ministerial influence being directedto the then Health Minister Michael Wooldridge.The Pilot Remote Vocational Training Stream

VOCATIONAL TRAINING 9

One way of dealing with barbed wire fences

fJ~e program caters to doctors in solo

practice teing supervised remotel~.

(PRVTS) was established; a program born as apolitical solution to .a crisis where training andworkforce imperatives intersect. Eleven registrarsfrom Qyeensland, New South Wales and Victoriacommenced the program on 4th January 2000.The registrars came from locations as diverse asBamaga on the tip of Cape York and Hopetoun in

Victoria's Mallee.The program was originally administered by the

long defunct and short-lived joint venture board -the joint committee set up by ACRRM and theRACGP. The PRVTS continued to be managedjoindy by the two colleges. In the early days ofGPET I tried to explain these joint arrangementsto Bill Coote, as he came to grips with his role asCEO of the new organisation; he said: "Gee Pat,that sounds about as comfortable as straddling twobarbed wire fences". In actual fact it has been very

OL-\tback.doc OCTOBER-DECEMBER 200610

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comfortable and I think largely due to the successof the model, the demand to the program, andthe individuals participating as supervisors andregistrars. With a steering group that consistedof such luminaries as Tom Doolan, Sarah Strasser,Elizabeth Chalmers, Max Chalmers, DavidCampbell, Vicki Sheedy, Les Woollard, RichardLawrance, Dennis Pashen, and Richard Hays, howcould it not be a success?

In 2003 the Health Minister at the time, KayPatterson, got rid of the "Pilot" from the name andthe program became known simply as "RVTS". Wetook this as a vote of confidence in the program.

The program caters to doctors in solo practicebeing supervised remotely. It has providedparticipants with three years of education, includingweekly "teletutorials" and twice-yearly workshopswith the whole group, including supervisors andfamilies, flying into a major centre for a bit oftraining that cannot be delivered over the phone. Atthe time, registrars and supervisors were providedwith digital cameras, hands-free phones, a secondphone line and the fastest internet connection thatwe could arrange - in the early days that meant

"pretty slow". Early reports described the programas "high tech" but it soon became apparent that thesimplest, most familiar technologies were the mostuseful. So much could be provided by a simpletelephone with perhaps a PowerPoint presentationsent by email. Anything more fancy did not seemto work.

The program was not without its early sceptics:"How can you possibly deliver vocational trainingby distance education and remote supervision?";"They will all fail;" "What a waste of money." Sevenyears on the doubters have been silenced. With a95 per cent pass rate of the FRACGP exam, threedetailed and highly complimentary evaluations, theexpanding band of alumni have become somewhatof a "who's who" in rural and remote educationtraining and politics. Christian Rowan, the youngdoctor with the flashy white teeth, is now thepresident of the Rural Doctors Association ofQyeens1and, having had an unsuccessful tilt atQyeens1and state politics. His supervisor, Dr LesWoollard from Moree in New South Wales, is nowthe president of the Rural Doctors Association ofNew South Wales.

Other notable alumni include Carmel Nelson,who is director of the Kimberley AboriginalMedical Service, as well as Andrew Reedy, who isthe current chair of Rural and Regional TrainingConsortium. John Heinrich, another alumnus, isthe former ACRRM Registrar Director and Boardmember of the Rural and Regional Qyeens1andConsortium. Peta Cornwall, an RVTS registrarwho trained in tiny Alpha in Central Qyeens1and,was also a Board member, and current RVTS

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VOCATIONAL TRAINING 11