MDHB’s medical training programme paying dividends

15/06/2011 | Medical Training Programme

MidCentral District Health Board’s strong medical training infrastructure is really paying dividends with many trainee interns and house officers wanting to stay on after their scheduled periods of work finish.

MCH’s training programme is overseen by the chief medical officer Dr Ken Clark, and supported by a Resident Medical Officer director, an associate dean, two trainee intern supervisors, and senior medical officer specialty-specific training supervisors in the various vocational disciplines, and the medical administration unit.

The training programme’s success is highlighted by the trainee intern programme with final year students from the University of Otago, Wellington now in its third year. Dr Annemarie Ranta, neurology consultant, and an associate dean jointly with the university, oversees the training programme and who puts significant effort into supporting the trainee interns and liaising with the university to ensure their training requirements are met.

Over the three-year period 28 trainee interns have been on the programme and they report having positive experiences during their time with us. This year two trainee interns stayed on as house officers, and last year there were five who stayed on.

The aim is to give them exposure to our region’s health services with the view that some will want to stay or come back later in their careers. Trainee interns have seven service placements during their year with us, including: surgery, emergency medicine, internal medicine, psychiatry, paediatrics, obstetrics and gynaecology, and general practice.

Most house officers stay with the same DHB for all of their first year, and some choose to stay on for a second year. Our retention rate for house officers has improved markedly over the past three years, with 10 of our 16 first year house officers from 2009 staying on for the 2010 year. In 2011 this increased to 13 of our 14 house officers staying for a second year.

This can be attributed to a number of factors, for example MidCentral having had in place for the past three years two intern supervisors, and also the positive and supportive environment provided by our senior doctors and other staff.

Our Medical Administration Unit has a specific focus on ensuring RMOs receive appropriate support, both during the recruitment process and throughout the journey of their employment.

On completion of their second year, house officers are then eligible for junior registrar posts with a number of options available to them, for example, entering a training programme, or taking up a non-training registrar post. Some house officers choose to undertake a third year and work as a senior house officer rotating within various specialities before settling on a chosen career pathway.

MDHB has 50 training registrar posts and 20 non-training posts. Non-training registrars are often promoted from senior house officers within our DHB. Our major disciplines are medical and surgical.

Of the current 16 medical registrars within MidCentral, seven have been employed with us for over three years. Others move to another DHB (most often a tertiary DHB) to gain wider experience.

Other initiatives to promote and support General Practitioner (GP) training within our district are also starting to show benefits. These include offering RMOs the opportunity to train as a GP under a salary model equivalent to hospital-based registrar training posts. MDHB receives funding for this from the Clinical Training Agency and it offers RMOs the potential for continuous salaried employment for the full three years of GP training. The GP registrar year is also designed to include a three-month attachment in Palmerston North Hospital in accordance with the registrar’s learning needs. So far five registrars have accepted offers to undertake this training.

This year we have also been successful in offering senior house officers three-month rotations in General Practice and five SHOs have taken up this offer. Next year three SHOs have been confirmed to undertake the rotations, with capacity for five more.

Contact: Communications Unit (06) 350-8945