Candidates Newsletter July

I would like to extend a welcome to those of you who have commenced in the Fellowship Training Program this year and recognise those of your progression through the program. I have been privileged to meet many of you on my travels throughout Australia and New Zealand and look forward to meeting more of you as time progresses.
 
I would like to provide you with an update of some of the activities in the College we are undertaking.  We hope some of these will respond to issues that you have raised and make your journey through the program a more positive one.
 
Firstly I would like to acknowledge the work of Carl Bryant during his time as Chair of the Candidate Advisory Committee (the CAC) and congratulate Lynnette Knowles and the new members of CAC on their appointment and I look forward to working with you. Please find below the names of the CAC and the jurisdiction they are from.

Dr Lynnette Knowles (Chair)
Dr Sergio Diez Alvarez (Candidate Board Director)
Dr Antony McNamara (ACT)
Dr Bahareh Cheme and Dr DarylAnne Elias (NSW)
Dr John Robson (NZ)
Dr Samantha Simpson (Qld)
Dr Mau Wee (SA)
Dr Shan Rodrigo and Dr Sue Inglis (Tas)
Dr Aradhana Parage (Vic)
Dr Xin Chua (WA)
 
The terms of reference for the CAC can be found here.

Election to Board
Please note that this year there will be an election of new Board members, including a nomination for a Candidate Board Director. Candidates are welcome to consider this opportunity. For further information and nomination form please click here.
 
Communication between Candidates and the CAC 
As you may recall when you commence as a Candidate you provided us with permission and signed consent form for us to share your details for the purposes of your training to relevant parties involved in your training. An example of this are the jurisdictional committees who allocate preceptors for you. 

We propose to provide your nominated email address to the Candidate Advisory Committee to allow the Committee to engage with you to ensure they can effectively represent the Candidate voice and provide you with a link into other Candidates going through the program, as well as enable you with additional training opportunities across Australia that you can link into, such as webinars and tutorials

If you do not wish for your email address to be provided to the CAC please advise Anna Lyubomirsky on ALyubomirsky@racma.rick.brightlabs.com.au by COB Friday 13 July 2018.
 
Review of the Fees for the FTP       
We are currently conducting a review of the fees of the FTP in particular to consider the issues raised around the appropriateness of the fees for those of you undertaking the program on a part time basis.  We look forward to advising you of the outcome of this review in the near future.
 
Employee Assistance Program
The College has appointed Converge International to provide EAP services to College staff and all Candidates.  These services include providing confidential counselling, coaching and workplace support. Candidates are offered 3 complimentary discussions/visits with the EAP to discuss matters of concern around their training, supervision or other issues related to Human and Industrial relations.  EAP service can be undertaken via a telephone conversation, on-line or face to face. The EAP Counsellor can assist and resolve issues that may be causing difficulty or stress, and provide guidance and advice on what to do and what steps may be taken to resolve the issue in the workplace.  The use of this service is confidential to the Candidate and RACMA is not provided with any information on these confidential conversations.

The contact details for Converge are listed below.

Converge International: 
1300 687 327 (Australia)
0800 666 367 (New Zealand)
Or visit – convergeinternational.com.au
 
Update on Communications
A license for Zoom has been obtained and we have installed and an implementation plan for the use of Zoom has commenced and will allow more “face to face” communications rather than teleconferences in the near future.
 
I would like to thank the CAC for providing us with real time feedback on concerns Candidates have in regards to their training and we will continue to work through these and improve our communications to you around key matters such as fees, the issuing of invoices in a more timely way and ensuring that candidates have sufficient notice to register for the trail examinations.  We are working through these matters to improve your experience as a Candidate with RACMA.
 
If anything changes in regards to your employment or personal details please let us know so we can ensure the flow through to accreditation of training sites, supervision and the work of jurisdictional committees.  So please keep us updated of any changes ASAP.  Email Tim ontmaddocks@racma.rick.brightlabs.com.au.
 
As always please feel free to contact myself on msaba@racma.rick.brightlabs.com.au or Pooshan Navathe, Chair of the Education and Training Committee on ETCChair@racma.rick.brightlabs.com.au with any concerns or feedback.
 
AMC Accreditation
As most of you know RACMA is undergoing accreditation with the AMC.  We have lodged our submission with the AMC and it is now on our website here.

The AMC accreditation team will be conducting site visits in Perth, Brisbane, Auckland, Sydney and Melbourne in October.  They will also meeting with various committees of RACMA and the Board.  RACMA will be sending out a survey to candidates for your feedback as well as providing opportunities for meetings either face to face or by teleconference across the jurisdictions.

Our Dean Dr Lee, and myself will be visiting jurisdictions where visits will be occurring and are hoping to speak with many of you during those visits.
 
Policy Update 
The College regularly reviews its current Policies and Regulations and develops new Polices/Regulations in accordance with the education and training needs, current College practices, emerging developments and AMC standards and requirements. The College Policies and Regulations are found on the RACMA Website.

Click here for Policies.
Click here for Regulations.

RACMA Examination Dates
The RACMA Trial and Oral Examinations will be held at the AMC National Test Centre at 200 Latrobe Street, Melbourne 3000 and the following dates have been scheduled:

• Trial Oral Exams – 3^rd/final year Candidates (28 – 29 July 2018)
• Oral Presentations  – (27 July 2018)
• Trial Oral Exams – 2^nd year Candidates (22 – 23 September 2018)
• Oral Presentations – (21 September 2018)
• Oral Exams – 3^rd/final year Candidates (1 – 2 Dec 2018)

Please contact Soundra Subramanian (SSubramanian@racma.rick.brightlabs.com.au) at the College if you have any questions or requests regarding the trial or oral examinations.
 
Changes of Staff in the FTP at the College Office
Nadene Edmonds, the FTP Administrator has moved to another role at the College in the Learning and Teaching Centre and we are pleased to welcome her in this new role and acknowledge her great work in the FTP.

We welcome Timothy Maddocks into the FTP team and he can be contacted attmaddocks@racma.rick.brightlabs.com.au

ASM Conference in Hong Kong
It has been 8 years since RACMA has held a joint conference with the HKCCM in Hong Kong- and it is a great opportunity to engage with senior members and Fellows of RACMA and many overseas colleagues.  Dr Pooshan Navathe will hold a meeting Candidates at the conference so I encourage you to attend.

More details can be found at http://racma-hkccm-asm.com/
 
 
Melanie Saba
Chief Executive
June 2018