Anaesthesia Trauma Fellow

Aims

Our trauma fellowships offer experience in most fields of anaesthesia with a strong emphasis on developing advanced skills in the care of the trauma patient:

• Trauma patient reception and evaluation skills
• Airway management skills
• Vascular access and Resuscitation skills
• Interpretation of diagnostic imaging (FAST, Echo, CXR, cervical spine X-rays and CT scans),
• Provision of general and regional anaesthesia for a range of elective and emergency trauma cases, including neurotrauma, thoracic trauma, abdominal trauma, orthopedic trauma, facial trauma and burns.
• Provision of peri-operative analgesia.
• Procedural skills (e.g. cricothyroidotomy, RIC/MAC lines, intercostal tube thoracostomy, regional analgesia such as chest wall blocks)  
• Management of massive transfusions, and knowledge of transfusion medicine.
• Develop research, audit and QA projects related to trauma medicine.

Structure

The program is a 12 month appointment and would involve exposure to:

• Trauma Anaesthesia – for both in and out of hours, elective and emergency cases
• Facio-maxillary, Burns and Cardiothoracic lists as well as general anaesthesia duties
• Trauma unit ward rounds, participation in Trauma MDT meetings and attachments to the receiving Trauma Unit with attendance at ‘Trauma calls’.
• Participation in relevant skills and professional development courses
• Arrangements with other units to facilitate training in procedures such as FAST, cricothyroidotomy, TTE/TOE and radiology interpretation.
• Arrangements with the Metropolitan Ambulance Service and other external services to gain exposure to the pre-hospital environment and to aeromedical retrieval (both primary and secondary).
• A relationship with the Department of Human Services will facilitate training in relation to Mass Casualty Trauma Care.

Research and Audit

The Trauma Fellows will have the opportunity to complete research and/or audit projects related to trauma patient care, and present at departmental and local anaesthesia meetings. Topics would be flexible depending on the Fellow’s interest and the research/audit priorities of the department.

Education

All Fellows will be expected to occasionally supervise junior trainees in theatre and participate in our various education programs for registrars, hospital residents, medical students, ambulance officers and nursing staff.

General Information

All Fellows participate in a 1/14 Fellow roster which includes allocation to Sandringham Hospital on average once/fortnight where they function as a junior consultant. Fellows average 86 rostered hrs/fortnight including on calls/ out of hours. All fellows will be expected to cover some service lists in addition to work in their areas of interest.

The on-going education and training of all our trainees is an integral part of our department’s activities.  As well as high levels of clinical supervision and focused exam preparation programs, we have a weekly afternoon teaching session for all trainees including Fellows comprised of workshops, topical presentations by trainees and consultants, and a quality improvement session during which interesting and challenging cases are discussed in an open, constructive forum.

The ANZCA ‘Roles in Practice’ form a framework for selection. Successful career progress and strong professional references are essential. We recruit highly motivated trainees who will work enthusiastically and respectfully as part of the Alfred Health team. Having clear goals for the fellowship experience and their future career stands applicants in good stead. International applicants should be at (or near the end of) their specialty training program, including successful completion of relevant post graduate exams at the time of application.