Bendigo Health’s latest batch of Emergency Department (ED) registrars are amongst the best pass rate in Australasia after they completed their fellowship exams recently.
This year’s cohort received a 96% pass rate, which sits well above the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine’s average of around 60-70%.
ED senior registrar Dr Jess Vincent is one of the junior doctors who passed her exam this year.
Jess said the support from Bendigo Health staff helped her not only pass, but made her want to continue her career in the region.
“You need to study for at least 12 months before and it can be difficult to do that and work full time all at once,” she said.
“We’ve got such a good training program (at Bendigo Health) and education staff are just so supportive.
“It definitely makes a difference and makes you want to stick around.”
In Emergency Medicine training, doctors will sit their primary exams after the first year of their Emergency Medicine Training and will then sit their two fellowship exams towards the end of their five-year training program.
The exams consist of a written and an objective structured clinical exam (OSCE).
Dr Kiran Veera, who works with Dr Yvette Bassin and Dr Ian Staples as the Directors of Emergency Medicine Training, said the organisation aimed to provide education that would keep doctors coming back.
“Our retention rates are very high. Even when doctors go away for a little while, they want to return,” he said.
“I personally consider that a big success story.”
Dr Veera said getting students back to face-to-face learning was important to keep the training flowing.
Emergency Department clinical unit head Dr Simon Smith said Bendigo Health’s education program had been designed to put the doctors and their futures first.
“What we’ve learnt as a department and as a hospital is that to create an ongoing workforce, it’s important to support junior doctors through their career development so they can stay at the service,” he said.
“We’ve put a lot of time and effort into developing an education program that supports doctors to do their Emergency Medicine Training in Bendigo.”