The SSRS Round Six Forum was held in Melbourne on Friday 23 March 2007.

50 College staff and rural Fellows attended the Forum and three current SSRS projects presented on their clinical education models, challenges and limitations, and project outcomes to date.

Other key sessions focused on supporting overseas trained specialists access CPD and peer support, safety and quality and CPD in a rural setting, and future strategies to deliver CPD to rural specialists.

The Forum received positive feedback from delegates who benefited from the opportunity to network and reflect on strategies to support rural specialists.

Presentations from Forum speakers, along with a copy of the SSRS Forum Workbook can be accessed via the SSRS Website.

Earlier in 2007 a proposal was submitted to the Department of Health and Ageing seeking ongoing financial support to implement Round Seven of the Scheme, and designed to support the following objectives:

• Support workforce retention of medical specialists in rural and remote Australia;
• Support clinical quality and patient safety though enhancing the competence of specialists working in rural and remote Australia;
• Support the sustainability of specialist medical services for Australians residing in rural and remote areas; and
• Strengthen inter-college collaboration and capacity in the provision of CPD and peer support to specialists working in rural and remote Australia.

While the CPMC is still awaiting advice from the Department as to the future of the Scheme, rural Fellows and Colleges are encouraged to continue to plan CPD programs and consider educational activities which support rural specialists.

Should funding become available, early planning will support the implementation of needs based and well targeted rural CPD programs.

Please contact the Project Management Unit on 02 9256 9615 or at info@ruralspecialist.org.au if you would like to discuss potential projects should funding become available.

The 9th National Rural Health Conference was held in Albury, NSW from 7-10 March 2007.

Over 250 recommendations put forward by delegates at the Conference were produced, along with an agreed a set of eighteen priority recommendations covering Indigenous health, mental health, arts-in-health, the health workforce and research to potentially help rural communities deal with the health and social affects of the drought.

For further information, including the full text of all available papers, Conference Communiqué, and Conference Recommendations, please click here.

The Royal Australasian College of Physicians Research and Education Foundation is pleased to invite applications for the above Fellowship, made available by a generous bequest of the late Mr Des Paulson.

The purpose of the Fellowship is to support research or publishable audits into the specialist health needs of rural Australia.

This Fellowship is valued at $A10,000 per annum for up to two years and applications close 2 July 2007.

Rural Adult Medicine physicians (residing and working primarily in RRMA 3-7 centres), or physician trainees committed to becoming rural Adult Medicine physicians, who are based in Victoria, are eligible to apply.

For further details please contact the Research Grants Administrator at the RACP at foundation@racp.edu.au or phone 02 9256 9639.