DiTs - have you completed the AMA (WA) Hospital Health Check Survey yet? There are just five days left to tell us what the mood and morale is in your hospital! Help us help you achieve the change you want to see. Remember, for every survey completed, AMA Medical Products will donate $1 worth of PPE to Western Australian charities

The AMA has played a leadership role in raising awareness of the risks of fatigue for medical professionals and in the development of practical solutions to minimise these risks. Research shows that fatigue can affect people in the same way as alcohol and can lead to higher risks of medical error - which impacts on patient care.

To help doctors determine whether they are at risk of fatigue, the AMA has developed an online fatigue assessment tool. Doctors who use the assessment tool will receive an online assessment of the fatigue risks of their roster. Doctors who are assessed as being at risk are encouraged to raise this with hospital management.

The AMA (WA) was delighted to sponsor a wonderful event hosted by the WA Doctor's Orchestra on Sunday 20 September. The event, attended by AMA (WA) CEO Dr Bennie Ng, pictured left with Alexander Chua, saw the third-year UWA medical student wow the audience. Kicking the show off with Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No.3, Alexander was ably accompanied by the WA Doctor’s Orchestra, under the skilful baton of Mark Coughlan.

Did you know AMA (WA) members get FREE access to the Medical Journal of Australia (MJA) as a membership benefit?
 

In the most recent edition of MJA, articles include:

1. Diagnostic error occurs in one in seven clinical encounters; and

2. Early medical abortion: telehealth restrictions discriminatory

Calling all current interns and those starting in 2021...

Mark your calendars for the AMA (WA) end-of-year Intern Celebration. Here’s a chance to catch up with colleagues and network with your peers in the hip environs of The Flour Factory. Places are limited, so get in quick.

Free for AMA (WA) members; $60pp for non-members.

In recent years, the incidence of some STIs in WA has been rising at an alarming rate. This year, a syphilis outbreak has been declared in metropolitan Perth. It’s more important than ever for WA primary care providers to screen and test for STIs. 

ASHM is offering a new online learning module, funded by and developed in collaboration with WA Health. Through interactive quizzes and case studies, WA GPs and other health professionals can develop their skills to confidently discuss sexual health with patients, conduct guideline-based STI screening and testing, and initiate contact tracing. 

The module is an accredited learning activity with The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) and The Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), and a certificate of completion is available. 
 
You can access the new learning module via the ASHM website (search ‘STI Testing’). 

On Sunday 20 September 2020, Make Smoking History launched its new graphic WA-made advertising campaign, ‘Voice Box’.
 

The television advertisement features footage from a real surgery to remove a smoker’s voice box (larynx) due to cancer. The campaign was developed following concern from WA health professionals about the low awareness that smoking causes head and neck cancers. Around 77 per cent of laryngeal cancers are caused by smoking and the treatment can be physically and emotionally devastating.

In the advertisements, Dr Rob Wormald, ear, nose and throat surgeon (who performed the surgery) and Dr Hamish Mace, specialist anaesthetist, explain how the surgery significantly changes a person’s life.

The WA Department of Health End of Life Care Program invites you to have your say on the development of high-level strategies to raise community awareness of advance care planning (ACP) and Advance Health Directives (AHDs) and improve access to education and training opportunities in the community and amongst health professionals in WA.