Workshops focusing on training in burr-hole surgery for head trauma emergencies have been offered over the course of three years by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. Each workshop provided the foundation for improved acute head injury management facilitated by two neurosurgeons. This course complements the workshop and assists future and past participants in the maintenance of their knowledge and skills.

Improving the appropriateness of referrals for medical imaging, thereby enhancing the quality of clinical care, is an important issue around the country but is especially important in rural health where there may be more limited resources and increased patient travel time to imaging facilities. Each of the nine clinical modules present the evidence behind the best clinical decision rules for that topic, followed by how to apply rules in practice.

In this course you will learn about what’s involved in conducting a rural practice review.

The Critically Obstructed Airway is an important clinical problem that requires immediate management. This resource provides facilitators with everything they need to run the workshop series Managing the Critically Obstructed Airway. Specialists including but not limited to anaesthesiologists, emergency medicine practitioners and physicians interested in delivering workshops on the important clinical issue of the critically obstructed airway should utilise this resource.

The RCPA KIMMS QAP aims to monitor the pre- and post-analytical phase of the laboratory quality systems thus extending measurement of quality to the entire quality system. The KIMMS program has been designed to provide pathology practices with the tools for continuous measurement and monitoring of key incident quality indicators. KIMMS is similar to other external quality assurance programs with one major difference, there are no samples to test. Only incident data is submitted quarterly, every year and reports issued.

In 2015, the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG) developed an audit tool to assist and encourage participation in audit of clinical practice. The App aims to monitor practice and identify areas for improvement, which may be subject to a ‘Quality Cycle’ approach of measurement, comparison to a standard, introduction of change and re-measurement approach. The App will enable rural and regional Fellows with minimum expertise in databases and IT systems to conduct clinical audits on a mobile device.

This project offers Fellows the opportunity to host a Practice Visit at their rural practice location. Project resources include two interactive e-learning modules on the Practice Visit activity. The modules provide information on how to undertake a Practice Visit, along with a training module for those who wish to become an accredited Practice Visitor.

In 2015, the College of Intensive Care Medicine of Australia and New Zealand (CICM) developed an online learning module to assist medical practitioners develop and implement strategies and protocols for the safe transport of critically ill patients. The aim of the module is to ensure that all specialists involved in the transport of critically ill patients minimise risk and maximise safety.

The project brings together surgeons, anaesthetists and scrub practitioners in a collaborative, cross-disciplined one day workshop, improving situational awareness, decision making, leadership, task management, communication skills and teamwork. The workshop will utilise three behavioural marker frameworks – Non-Technical Skills for Surgeons (NOTSS), Anaesthetists’ Non-Technical Skills (ANTS) and Scrub Practitioners’ List of Intra-operative Non-Technical Skills (SPLINTS) developed by The University of Aberdeen, Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh and the National Health Service.

The primary objective of the RCPAQAP Transfusion program is to improve the standards of performance in blood transfusion in laboratories. RCPAQAP programs provide an essential critical component for assessment of overall quality systems in blood group serology laboratories. Participating in these programs ensures laboratories have a platform for continuous improvement of their systems.