Trainee in Difficulty
Trainee in difficulty; a handbook for Directors of Clinical Training has been updated.  This Second Edition includes new information on social media, as well as the changed roles of the Medical Board of Australia and the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.  This document is available on the SA MET website for downloading.

Core Terms in Emergency Project
During December 2013, SA MET invited interns to share their impressions of emergency medicine clinical rotations. Ninety-five responses were received; 75 from interns who had been placed in a hospital emergency department (ED) setting, and 20 from interns placed in general practice (GP) settings with emergency exposure. Overall impressions of the emergency terms were overwhelmingly positive.  Both settings offered opportunities to learn from undifferentiated patients and practice a range of clinical skills.  Two thirds of interns in GP-settings and half of those in ED-settings were able to directly contribute to caring for high acuity patients during the term, but interns in ED-settings may receive more formal education and training relevant to emergency medicine. Detailed analyses of the survey data are still being undertaken, but so far, the findings suggest that both traditional and non-traditional core emergency terms deliver valuable, if not identical, contributions to prevocational medical training. A report will be available on the SA MET website soon.

Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD)
The Medical Schools Outcomes Database (MSOD) Project has recently launched a new comprehensive website. It features a streamlined process for accessing data. Click here to visit the MSOD Project website.

Two Minutes with...  Minh Nguyen
Minh Nguyen is a PGY2, currently working at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC),  who completed his intern year in 2013.  Minh is a member of two SA MET committees,  the Education Committee and Doctors in Training Committee, and is also a member of the SA MET Health Advisory Council. He also Chairs the South Australian JMO Forum. Minh has shared some thoughts on his intern year and work with the SA MET committees.

What it was like to commence your internship over a year ago?  It doesn’t feel that long ago that I was starting internship, marked by feelings of fear, stress, apprehension and anxiety. In those first few weeks, the title of 'doctor' came with the great weight that all of my actions directly affected patient care, and that any errors might lead to drastic consequences. The learning curve was steep, but the transition from student to clinician was a wonderful experience.
 
What were the great things about being an intern? My favourite aspect of being an intern was being part of the team. A highlight of the year was my surgical term, due to the fantastic team and what turned out to be a great learning experience. It helps when you are appreciated for the work you do, especially when you don’t think anyone is noticing. A touching text message I received was: “Thank you for all your hard work and efforts in looking after our patients. Always remember that your efforts made a lot of patients better”.
 
What was the biggest challenge that you had to face? One of the biggest challenges in the transition from student to intern was adapting to the clerical and administrative nature of the work we do as interns. We talk about ‘disease-burden’ in medical illness, but the  ‘administrative-burden’ on interns is extraordinary. As the intern your major role is to ensure that case notes are written, request forms submitted, and certificates, discharge summaries, drug charts and prescriptions are up to date.
 
You have been involved with SA MET on committees and the Council for most of 2013.  How come you did this and what has it been like?  I have a passion for medical education and have been grateful for the opportunity to contribute to the SA MET Council and its committees. I feel that it's important to try to improve and positively influence how things are done around us. It has been great to see how receptive SA MET, supervisors and medical educators are of feedback from their JMOs. I look forward to continuing in these roles into 2014.

And in your spare time?  I love to travel, enjoy good wine and food, and am an avid sports fan.