Pilbara Health Events You Can’t Miss!
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Member Update
MARCH 2025
Hi PHPN Members,
Welcome to our March Member Update...It's a big one!
If you haven't yet, be sure to join our Facebook group to stay updated on the latest news and connect with fellow members. It's a fantastic space for sharing local events, posting job opportunities, and welcoming new team members to our growing Pilbara health community.
Don't forget to check out our PHPN Events Calendar on the website, where you'll find a variety of educational and networking opportunities tailored for health professionals in the Pilbara region.
Stay connected, get involved, and make the most of your PHPN membership!
Alisha
UPCOMING PHPN EVENTS
Social Networking Sundowners and Find Cancer Early Information Updates | Tom Price, Paraburdoo and Onslow!
Come along and unwind after work with the Pilbara Health Professionals Network (PHPN) for a sundowner social event. This is a fantastic opportunity to:
- Meet and welcome health professionals who have recently moved to town
- Reconnect with colleagues in a relaxed setting
- Hear from Lenore Irvine, the Cancer Council WA Regional Education Officer for the Pilbara
Lenore will provide a brief update on the CCWA Find Cancer Early guide and host a Q&A session to answer your questions.
Don’t miss this chance to connect, learn, and socialise!
SEE BELOW TO REGISTER
Monday 17 March 2025 | 5.30pm - 7.30pm | Paraburdoo
Paraburdoo Pub – 622 McRae Avenue
Tuesday 18 March 2025 | 5.30pm - 7.30pm | Tom Price
Tom Price Hotel Motel – 1 Central Road
Thursday 27 March 2025 | 5.30pm - 7.30pm | Onslow
Onslow Beach Resort – Corner Second Avenue and Third Street
Wednesday 19 March 2025 | 5.30pm – 8.00pm | Karratha
Presenter: Dr Gregory Ong
Topic: – Managing Cardiovascular Risk and Glucose in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus
Of particular interest to GPs, primary care nurses and pharmacists.
Tuesday 8 April 2025 | 6.00pm – 8.00pm | Karratha
Registrations are now open!
Concussion can affect anyone in the community regardless of age, gender, occupation or background; occurring as a result of sport injuries, falls, physical assault and car accidents.
Learn how to recognise the signs, and manage the injury safely, promptly and appropriately from Dr Gill Cowen, a highly accomplished medical professional, parent and sports enthusiast as she makes this complex topic accessible.
We invite all Pilbara community members to attend this FREE evening information event - parents, educators, coaches and team members, first responders, support workers, OHS officers, school administration staff, aged care caregivers, students 15 years+ with a supervising adult, everyone!
Online attendance is available to community members outside of Karratha.
This event still continues to receive great feedback from community members after being delivered in other regions last year.
Registration is required but FREE of charge. Please REGISTER HERE
Wednesday 9 April 2025 | 7.15am – 8.15am | Karratha
Presenter: Dr Gill Cowen - GP and Sports Medicine Physician
Topic: – Understanding, Managing and Preventing It | For Health Professionals
We encourage Pilbara health professionals across various disciplines (medical, aged care, allied health, community support services, etc) to join Dr Gill Cowen, a highly accomplished medical professional, parent and sports enthusiast to enhance your collective approach to concussion care. Given its widespread occurrence, early recognition and appropriate management are essential to reducing long-term complications and improving patient outcomes.
Delivered in the Goldfields last year, Gill’s session still receives rave reports!
PLEASE NOTE: The event will be available online for Pilbara health professionals that are not able to travel to Karratha to attend in person. The link will be shared with registered participants a few days prior to the event.
Wednesday 14 May 2025 | 5.30pm – 8.00pm | Port Hedland
Presenter: Dr Rebecca Hudson – Nephrologist, Fiona Stanley Hospital
Dr Hudson’s special interests in chronic kidney disease include First Nations health and kidney supportive care. Learning outcomes:
- The importance of early detection for those at risk of chronic kidney disease.
- Describe the elements of the assessment for chronic kidney disease (kidney health check).
- Define the treatment options to delay progress of kidney disease.
This event is accredited for continuing professional development (one EA hour) with the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners and the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine.
LATEST HEALTH NEWS
Health Workforce Scholarship Program ROUND 16 - CLOSING SOON!
Applications will close midnight Sunday 9 March 2025
Scholarship and bursary eligibility includes:
- Qualified health professionals working in the field of medicine, nursing, midwifery, dental, pharmacy or allied health (including Aboriginal health practitioners).
- Working in a primary care role in rural and remote Western Australia in private practice, an Aboriginal Medical Service (AMS), Aboriginal Community Controlled Health organisation (ACCHO) or a non-government or not-for-profit organisation.
- Employed by an organisation providing services in a MMM 3-7 location or and ACCHS in MMM 1-7 location. Refer to the Health Workforce Locator to identify your MMM (Modified Monash Model) 2019 location classification.
To apply, you must meet the eligibility requirements. The full eligibility requirements and exclusions are detailed in the Program Guidelines below.
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Pain Unstuck: A Fresh Perspective on Pain and Exercise
5 and 6 April 2025 | Karratha
Presenter: Dr Merv Travers PhD, Senior Research Scholar working in the area of low back pain, tendon pain and exercise rehabilitation at the School of Physiotherapy, The University of Notre Dame Australia.
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Emergency Airway Skills Management (EAM)
Friday 9 May 2025 | Karratha
This workshop is designed to support health professionals in developing essential skills for managing problem airways in emergency situations. The training focuses on teamwork and coordination within medical emergency teams. Facilitated by a team of specialist anaesthetists and technicians from Royal Perth Hospital, Perth Children’s Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital.
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Neonatal Stabilisation and Transport Readiness (NeoSTARS)
Friday 16 May 2025 | Port Hedland
This course, which is created and delivered by neonatologists and neonatal nurse educators, teaches current up to date evidence-based approaches to neonatal stabilization. Course attendance will help you and your team to understand and master the basic skills required in the care of any sick newborn.
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Upcoming ASHM Courses
This is your round-up of upcoming ASHM training courses and events. You can view the full schedule of ASHM training and events in the Training Library.
Upcoming Virtual Courses
- Antenatal Syphilis Train the Trainer Program | 27 March
- Curing Hepatitis C in Primary Care | 31 March
- HIV s100 Accredited Prescriber Course | EOI
- WA HIV s100 Prescriber Update | EOI
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Upcoming ECHO for Northern Australia Education
ECHO programs offer free interactive online training, bringing health professionals and primary care together to share knowledge, ideas, and experiences, fostering a friendly and supportive environment. These monthly sessions run for an hour from 11am to 12pm and are open to all healthcare staff, including nursing, allied health, GPs, community health, and Indigenous health workers. Registration is required to attend – Once registered participant will receive dial in detail by email.
- Promoting the use of telehealth with CALD communities – Digital Health Equity | 13 March
- Advance Care Planning | 18 March
- Culturally derived or adapted (and validated) screening tools | 3 April
- Engaging with ACCHO’s - Telehealth benefits for First Nations Peoples | 10 April
- Symptom Management – Respiratory | 15 April
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Upcoming Palliative and Supportive Care Education
Residential Aged Care Education in Palliative Care (RACEPC) is excited to offer several free webinars in the coming months. These webinars provide practical knowledge and strategies that can be applied directly to your role in caring and supporting people with end of life and palliative care needs.
Education topics for staff in both clinical and non-clinical roles include:
- Advance Care Planning and Residential Goals of Care in Aged Care | 20 March
- Palliative Care in Residential Aged Care | 27 March
- Recognising & Responding to Clinical Deterioration in an Aged Care Setting | 7 April
- Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) for Clinical, Medical, and Executive Staff in Aged Care | 6 May
- Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) for Non-Clinical, Administrative, and Executive Staff in Aged Care | 20 May
Follow PaSCE on LinkedIn or visit the PaSCE website for further palliative and supportive care education. We are committed to supporting all health professionals across the state who care for individuals with life-limiting illnesses in all settings. Gain confidence in providing palliative care and support through our education, professional development, and volunteer opportunities.
EVENT RECAP
Paediatric RHD education
It was fantastic to see our Pilbara health professionals gathered both in person and online for our first education event for 2025. Dr Cameron Seaman shared insights on Paediatric Rheumatic Heart Disease, offering valuable information on this critical health issue.
A huge thank you to Dr Seaman and the team at the WACHS Rheumatic Heart Disease Register and Control Program for their incredible work and for making this session possible.
Welcome to 2025 Social Sundowners
What a way to start the year! Our Welcome to 2025 social sundowners in Hedland and Karratha on Friday 21 February and Saturday 22 February were a huge success. It was wonderful to see such a great turnout of health professionals and their families, all coming together to connect, share, and celebrate the vital work they do in our community.
The food was absolutely delicious at both events, and the children's faces lit up with lots of smiles after getting their faces painted with beautiful artwork.
We’re looking forward to catching up with our health professionals again at our next social sundowners in Paraburdoo, Tom Price, and Onslow. See you there!
Moving to a new region in WA?
Join your local Health Professionals Network!
Did you know that the Pilbara Health Professionals Network is one of seven networks operating across regional Western Australia? If you're relocating to another region in WA, reach out to your new region's network to build local connections and learn of upcoming education and networking opportunities.
For more information and for links to each region's Health Professionals Network website, visit the Rural Health West website.
The Pilbara Health Professionals Network is brought to you in partnership with the following stakeholder organisations.
You have received this newsletter as a health professional working in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. Email addresses used to disseminate this newsletter were obtained through Rural Health West's databases. Unsubscribing from this newsletter will remove you from the distribution list for all Rural Health West publications. To stop receiving this newsletter only, please email contact@phpn.com.au
