ABOUT
Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine at Westmead Hospital
The Westmead Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine is a dynamic group of caring and well respected professionals. We are a large department with 38 trainees and over 60 staff specialists and VMOs but pride ourselves in maintaining a collegial and supportive environment for all departmental members.
Our department is active in research and we are fortunate to have the support of a full-time research nurse. We have an active audit group and regular research meetings. We are a committed recruitment site for the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network.
Our training program is outstanding—not only do we offer rotations to meet all required subspecialty units, we also offer exposure to simulation, trauma, neonatal intensive care, high risk obstetrics and ECMO. While not directly associated with Careflight we allow advanced trainees to apply for 6–12 month positions if desired. We support our trainees through the examinations with an in-hours teaching program and currently have one primary examiner and three fellowship examiners (plus numerous past examiners and Chairs of examinations). We actively support mentorship and see the physical and mental well-being of our trainees as key to their long term success. Our rotational hospitals include Auburn, Blacktown, Coffs Harbour and Tamworth as well as the Children's Hospital at Westmead. Trainees will also rotate through intensive care at Westmead and may request a 3 month term in neonatal intensive care.
We have departmental members active in all aspects of ANZCA affairs—at state, national and international levels.
Our engagement with the profession as a whole means that we strive for excellence in all areas of anaesthesia, perioperative medicine and pain medicine and whatever your area of interest we will support your endeavours.
09 Feb 2018
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Westmead Anaesthesia Information Night 2024
Join us for an evening filled with valuable insights into training at Westmead!
The Westmead Rotational Scheme is an ANZCA accredited training scheme and provides access to all subspecialty training opportunities.
At Westmead Hospital, we are dedicated to providing top-notch education and training in anaesthesia. Come and meet our consultants and trainees for a unique opportunity to learn.
Tuesday 11 June 2024 18:30–20:00
12 May 2024
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Meetings
(Also see the teaching calendar below.)
Quality Assurance
There is a comprehensive QA program which aims to improve all aspects of patient safety and to support anaesthetic staff in achieving better outcomes for patients.
Monthly QA meetings are attended by all members of the department. These meetings discuss anaesthetic cases of interest, review QA cases from other departments with relevance to anaesthetic practice, and disseminate recommendations of any RCA investigations impacting on anaesthetic practice. The meetings take the form of group discussions that aim to harness the experience and expertise of all those who attend. The meetings occur in a supportive environment that allows staff to learn from others experiences and to help in instituting safety reforms that will result in greater patient safety.
In addition there are on-going audit projects, specifically aimed at quality improvement, and also attendance by anaesthetic staff at QA meetings across the hospital.
At each QA meeting a handout is produced which outlines the recommendations from previous meetings and the details of the cases to be discussed that day.
Finally, in each handout there are short essays on the history of anaesthesia, outlining those significant breakthroughs that have impacted anaesthetic practice and shaped the way we perform anaesthetics today.
Education
Our weekly morning meetings at Westmead offer a wide range of opportunities for knowledge sharing within our department and between ourselves and our colleagues throughout the hospital. We provide opportunities for trainees to present on topics of interest often creating opportunities to fulfil ANZCA scholar role requirement. Many of our meetings are presented by consultant staff within the department, and we have regular multi-disciplinary meetings with Obstetrics, Trauma and a range of other departments as arranged by our dedicated Perioperative Medicine group.
Research
Monthly meetings cover current projects and proposals in audit and research.
Pain
Pain education meetings are held on the first Monday of the month at 12:30 (Education Block).
09 Feb 2018
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Training
Westmead Hospital and its rotations are accredited for the full 5 years of training (Introductory Training, Basic Training, Advanced Training and Provisional Fellowship).
Our high acuity case mix and high volumes of cases means that you will be exposed to every challenge imaginable—in a supportive training environment. Our supervisors of training are passionate about the training program and well versed in navigating the training process—be it questions regarding the TPS, debriefing after a difficult case or general training advice.
We have rotations to Blacktown, Auburn, Coffs Harbour, Tamworth and the Children's Hospital at Westmead. We also rotate to Neonatal Intensive Care and Intensive Care at Westmead. Advanced Trainees are supported to apply for 6-12 month positions at Careflight if desired.
As a junior trainee at Westmead you have the onsite support of a senior advanced trainee or provisional fellow for all overtime shifts, in addition to a consultant on call.
We value scholar role activities and will actively support any research interests.
Welfare
At Westmead, we have a unique welfare program which recognises that whilst all anaesthetic training programs aim to develop up to date, well-skilled and technically proficient consultants, attention to self-care, physical and psychological health is critical. Our welfare program has been established for over 10 years and is embedded within the culture of our department. We offer mentoring for all residents, registrars and new consultants when they join the department. Mentoring involves pairing each trainee or new consultant with a more senior consultant anaesthetist aiming to foster a close relationship, open confidential communication and appropriate support. Welfare also aims to create a work environment where social activities with colleagues are organised and encouraged. Social functions have included drinks, dinners, attending theatre productions, AFL matches (go the Swans!), annual triathlon and annual departmental dinner.
Social
Westmead holds a famous annual anaesthetic department dinner, which is usually fancy dress themed! In the past we have had come as your favourite dead person, Bollywood, Great Gatsby and the obligatory seventies party to name but a few. This dinner showcases our highly anticipated annual departmental movie featuring the as yet undiscovered acting, directing and film editing talents of our staff.
Our department loves a good night out and often have several social functions throughout the year including 'games night', barefoot bowls, strike bowling. There are rumours about paintball coming up soon. If you can think of it, we will go!
We have a registrar room that was redecorated with money from a theater-wide bake sale. This has proved hugely popular with the registrars who are often found hanging around after their shift playing darts or with a serious case of 'shift intertia'! We have a chalk wall where you can immortalise your colleagues quotes and aim to get your name on a informal departmental record eg 'most epidurals in one shift' or make up your own record.
The hospital RMO association regularly hold lunches and provide an international selection of FREE food throughout the year - they even page you to tell you about it on the day!
Westmead tavern is our local and what it lacks in class it makes up for in spacious quarters, cheap booze and proximity to the local trains. It has been host to many a casual Friday after work drinks with colleagues.
09 Feb 2018
ABOUT
Westmead Hospital
Westmead Hospital is a tertiary referral hospital in western Sydney and is part of the largest hospital complex in the southern hemisphere. With over eight hundred beds, it is a Level One trauma centre and provides world class expertise in nearly all areas of medical and surgical care. Serving a population of over 1,500,000 people, it is situated in one of the fastest growing regions in Australia.
Over eighteen thousand operations are performed each year in twenty one operating theatres. Anaesthesia services are also provided in the birthing unit, endoscopy suite (gastroenterology and respiratory medicine), cardiac catheter lab, radiology, radiotherapy and PET suites.
Westmead Hospital is a major teaching hospital of the University of Sydney, is colocated with The Children's Hospital at Westmead, and is home to the Westmead Centre for Oral Health and two world class research centres.
The new Central Acute Services Building is due to be completed in 2020. This building will link Westmead Hospital and The Children's Hospital at Westmead, and will be home to a number of adult and paediatric services including two new emergency departments (one for adults and one for children), state of the art operating theatres and interventional suites, a new cardiac comprehensive care centre, expanded imaging services, and education, training and research areas and facilities. There will be more than two hundred new patient rooms. The University of Sydney will occupy one and a half floors, enabling greater integration of education, research and health service delivery.
09 Feb 2018
