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be attending the 3rd International
Conference on Advanced Medicine
jointly organised by Peerless
Hospital & BK Roy Foundation,
the College and API, West Bengal
Chapter, to give lectures on a variety
of topics. I am indebted to Dr
Dipankar Bhattacharjee and Dr Sujit
Kar Purkayastha for organising this
meeting.
Federation visit to
Malaysia
Donald Farquhar, Consultant
Physician, St John’s Hospital,
Associate Postgraduate Dean, South
East Scotland Deanery
A formal visit by the Federation of
the Royal Colleges of Physicians
took place in December 2015.
Representatives from MRCP(UK), the
Joint Royal Colleges of Physicians
Training Board (JRCPTB) and the
Continuous Professional Development
team (CPD) took part. During the
short visit, the delegation met Datuk
Seri Dr S Subramaniam, Minister of
Health, and the key organisations
responsible for postgraduate medical
training in Malaysia.
Malaysia has seen a steep increase
in the number of postgraduate
doctors requiring structured
training over recent years. There
has been an expansion of private
medical colleges in Malaysia and
an increasing number of its citizens
travelling to other countries for
undergraduate medical courses.
There are two potential training
routes for aspiring physicians at the
present time.
The University Masters Programme
is organised by the Conjoint Board
and provides a structured training
programme over four years which
results in a MMed. However, there
are significant capacity issues
with many trainees unable to
access this system. This led to
development of a ‘parallel’ training
programme whereby trainees work
for three years in Department of
Health hospitals and need to pass
MRCP(UK). Completion of either
system permits access to higher
speciality training. The popularity
of the ‘parallel’ programme has led
to increasing demand for MRCP
places with demand exceeding
supply. There is also a demand for
preparatory materials and courses
for the examination.
The Federation party had meetings
with the Conjoint Board, the PACES
Organising Committee (Malaysia),
the Malaysian Medical Council,
the College of Physicians and the
Academy of Medicine of Malaysia.
The MRCP examination was
discussed as was the structured
training system in the UK. CPD
development in the UK was also
described.
The visit was extremely valuable
in permitting the Federation to
understand the training issues
in Malaysia. It was also hoped
that the Federation visit might act
as a catalyst for change – with
development of a more structured
training within the ‘parallel’ system.
This year has seen substantial
increase in availability of PACES
places in Malaysia – from 150 in
2015, to a planned 285 in 2017.
Penang is being developed as a
second PACES centre to support
Kuala Lumpur. It is hoped this will
mean Malaysian trainees find it
much easier to obtain a place in
the future. The Federation is also
in discussion with the three Royal
Colleges of Physicians in the UK on
the issue of preparatory materials
and courses for MRCP.
The Federation has been advised
that great progress has been made
in Malaysia on a common internal
medicine curriculum and a more
structured parallel training system.
The JRCPTB has offered to support
this if requested. ‘Training the
Trainers’ is a key area in this – as it
is in the UK.
The Federation visit was felt to have
been very successful and fostered
the strong links that already exist
between Malaysia and UK medicine.
Caring for the elderly in
the Central Coast, New
South Wales, Australia
This article has been submitted
by Dr Mei Min Soong, Community
Geriatrician, Wyong Hospital,
Australia, to share information with
other Fellows about the local context
in Australia.
Australia is currently facing an
ageing population. According to the
Australian Bureau of Statistics, in
2014 the estimated population in
New South Wales was 7.5 million
with almost two thirds of the total
population living in Greater Sydney
and the highest proportion of people
aged 65 years and over living on the
Central Coast. The Central Coast
has an estimated population of
323,079. It has been estimated
that by 2022, one in four hospital
beds will be occupied by a person
aged over 85.
We work closely with both
government and non-government
funded organisations to provide
early assessments for home help,
respite care, residential placements
and information on day care,
dementia-specific social clubs,
supports and services available in
the community.
Two community geriatric medical
teams in Gosford and Wyong Shire
provide consultations, medical and
driving and capacity assessments
for patients who live in their own
homes, hostels or in nursing homes.
A group of specialised nurses work
with the aged services emergency
team (ASET) and are divided into
three teams. They work closely with
the geriatric medical team:
•
ASET Emergency department
(ED) sees patients who are
complex and over the age of 65
who come through the ED and
are comprehensively assessed
and admitted directly to the
geriatric medical admitting team
•
ASET Behavioural assessments
provide prompt reviews
and management plans for
