President's message

Welcome to our latest edition.

As we approach the September medical registration renewal period, it's an ideal time to reflect on your Continuing Professional Development (CPD).

We all know medicine is continuously evolving, making it valuable to concentrate on areas directly pertinent to your specialty or those undergoing rapid transformation. You might also think about spreading your CPD activities throughout the year. This can give you time for meaningful reflection and the integration of new knowledge into your daily practice.

Your medical indemnity insurer can offer resources to support your CPD journey. Exploring these materials can be particularly beneficial, whether you're interested in improving patient communication or understanding the changing nature of your specialty.

I’d like to thank our outgoing Council members, Ms Margaret Piper AM, Dr Clare Skinner, Professor Cameron Stewart and Dr Saretta Lee, for their contributions and hard work.

Finally, I highly recommend listening to our latest podcast featuring Dr Cathy Kezelman from the Blue Knot Foundation. In this episode we discuss trauma-informed care, providing insights on how we can all approach patient interactions through a trauma-sensitive lens.

Dr Liz Tompsett
President
Medical Council of NSW

Title

Most doctors understand that patients come to us with their lived experience. This may include traumatic experiences that can be triggered by interactions with the health system. In our latest podcast we look at trauma-informed care and ways that doctors can approach each consultation using this lens. This is a must listen for anyone providing care, no matter the setting.

Resources to help you prescribe safely

You may be familiar with the Poisons and Therapeutic Goods Act (NSW), but did you know there are more resources available to help you prescribe safely?   

Patient consent - 8 things every doctor should know

Failure to properly obtain and document a patient’s informed consent to proposed treatment or surgery is sometimes at the centre of complaints to the NSW Medical Council. In this article, we share 8 things every doctor should know when it comes to obtaining and recording their patients’ consent prior to treatment or surgery.

Council welcomes new members

Four new Council members took up their appointments recently. Welcome to Assoc Prof John Kasinathan, Dr Tim Green, Ms Elizabeth Grinston and Mr Ömer Incekara.

You can see the full list of current members of the Medical Council of NSW on our website.

Got questions? Our latest Q and A section provides clear, concise answers to your most common queries.

How well do you know the Medical Board of Australia’s Good medical practice: A Code of conduct for doctors in Australia?

Take our short quiz to see how familiar you are with the Code.

New Ahpra portal changes how you will renew

Ahpra is opening the 2025 medical registration renewal process for doctors on 4 August 2025.

They are using a new system this year, so they encourage you to set up your portal access early to make sure your registration process is as smooth as possible.

Don’t forget you need to log your 50 hours of CPD before renewing.

News bites

Advance copies of new Ahpra cosmetic guidelines

Ahpra has published advanced copies of their Guidelines for advertising higher risk non-surgical cosmetic procedures and Guidelines for registered health practitioners who perform non-surgical cosmetic procedures. Both of these will come into effect on 2 September 2025.

Updated medicinal cannabis guidelines

Aphra and the Medical and Nursing and Midwifery Boards of Australia recently updated their guidance on medicinal cannabis prescribing. The guidance includes information on good patient care, appropriate prescribing, and examples of poor practice.

Pharmaceutical Services Unit subscription service

The Pharmaceutical Services Unit (PSU) has a new subscription service. Signing up will mean you receive important updates and news from the PSU. Subscribe to Pharmaceutical Services news and updates

We care what you think

The Medical Council newsletter aims to keep you updated about your regulatory responsibilities as a NSW medical practitioner as well as provide resources to support you to provide safe, professional care to your patients.

To help us improve our service to you, we would appreciate it if you could take 3-4 minutes to complete our anonymous survey. Your feedback can shape the content and timing of our newsletter for future editions.