Advanced Trainee

This is a core advanced training position for a 1st year trainee in general gastroenterology and hepatology. Trainee selection within NSW is a centralised process.

Trainees successful in their application will generally be granted 2 years of core training (to complete their core-training requirements for gastroenterology). This is however provisional on trainees meeting their other requirements as set out by NSW Heath and the Royal Australian College of Physicians (RACP).

Hospital accredited to provide gastroenterology core advanced training with NSW are listed below. Please note not all hospitals listed provide a 1^st year position every clinical year. Details of available positions will be listed at time of application.

Bankstown Hospital

·         Dr Shan Rajendra

·         Email: shan.rajendra@health.nsw.gov.au

Blacktown Hospital

• Dr Golo Ahlenstiel
• Email: Golo.Ahlenstiel@health.nsw.gov.au

Campbelltown Hospital

·         Dr Ian Turner

·         Email: ian.turner@health.nsw.gov.au

Concord Hospital

·         Dr Peter Katelaris

·         Email: peter.katelaris@sydney.edu.au

Gosford Hospital

·         Dr Glenn Hawken

·         Glenn.hawken@health.nsw.gov.au

John Hunter

·         Dr Steven Bollipo

·         Email: steven.bollipo@health.nsw.gov.au

Lismore Base Hospital

• 6 month position with rotation to Port Macquarie Base Hospital
• Dr David Whitaker
• Email: david.whitaker@nrgdoctors.com.au

Liverpool Hospital

• Dr Scott Davison
• Email: Scott.Davison@health.nsw.gov.au

Nepean Hospital

• Dr Martin Weltman@health.nsw.gov.au
• Email: Jeff.Chang@health.nsw.gov.au

Port Macquarie Base Hospital

• 6 month position with rotation to Lismore Base Hospital
• Dr Stuart Kostalas
• Email: skostalas@gmail.com

Prince of Wales Hospital

• Dr Stephen Riordan
• Phone: (02) 9382 3100
• Email: Stephen.Riordan@health.nsw.gov.au

Royal North Shore Hospital

• Dr May Wong
• Email: may.wong1@health.nsw.gov.au

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

• Dr Simone Strasser
• Email: Simone.Strasser@health.nsw.gov.au

St George/ Sutherland Hospitals

• Dr Amany Zekry
• Email: a.zekry@unsw.edu.au

St Vincent’s Hospital

• Dr David Williams
• Email: dwilliams@stvincents.com.au

Westmead Hospital

• Dr Jacob George
• Email: jacob.george@sydney.edu.au

Wollongong Hospital

• Dr Ian Valiozis
• Email: Ivan.Valiozis@health.nsw.gov.au

Inpatient responsibilities:

• Manage general gastroenterology and hepatology inpatients.
• Perform gastroenterology and hepatology consultations, assessing all new referrals within 24 hours (or less if required).

Outpatient responsibilities:

• Attend regular general gastroenterology and hepatology out-patient clinics.
• Attend other subspecialty clinics, where applicable (eg- viral hepatology clinics, inflammatory bowel disease clinics, nutrition clinics, neurophysiology/motility clinics, infusion/rapid triage clinics).

On-call responsibilities:

• Participate in on call rosters as determined by Head of Department.
• First on call roster to the emergency department and ward patients after hours for new admissions and complications in ward patients.
• Perform weekend ward rounds of general gastroenterology and transplant patients when on call.
• Organise inter-hospital transfer of patients with complex gastrointestinal problems from regional centres, where applicable.

Supervision and training:

• Supervise junior medical staff.
• Train JMOs in procedures such as abdominal paracentesis and thoracocentesis.
• Supervise and tutor medical students in their gastroenterology rotations.

Procedural skills:

• Gain competency in endoscopy and colonoscopy by attending regular endoscopy lists and colonoscopy lists.
• Organise and perform emergency endoscopic procedures for acute upper GI bleeding, including participation in after-hours emergency on-call rosters.

Education and Research:

• Participate in clinical trials as sub-investigator reviewing patients as required.
• Perform clinical research projects.
• Self-directed study in gastroenterology and hepatology.
• Attend conferences and relevant meetings where possible.

Administration:

• Contribute to the preparation of morbidity and mortality audits.
• Assist consultants in co-ordinating endoscopy lists.
• Organise, attend and participate in journal clubs, departmental meetings, radiology meetings, histopathology meetings.
• Prepare the on-call roster for the advanced trainees, if necessary.

Quality improvement:

• The advanced trainee is required to assist and participate in the development and implementation of Quality Activities, ensure timely discharge and will have responsibility for discharge coding. He/she will be involved in the provision of departmental statistics, in keeping with that of the Department.

 Other key responsibilities:

• The Hospital provides the trainee with an email account. It is the trainee’s responsibility to check their email as this is how Hospital Administration and Senior Staff will be communicating relevant information on a daily basis.
• When on-call the Advanced Trainee must be available and contactable at all times.

The Training Program

The Advanced Trainee will undertake post-graduate specialty training in Gastroenterology and Hepatology and will have a commitment to progressing through this training, including the diagnostic and therapeutic procedures relevant to this speciality. They will be expected to adopt a progressively more independent approach to patient management according to their experience, under the guidance of, and at the discretion of the Attending Medical Officer (AMO).

• The advanced trainee in Gastroenterology and Hepatology will be involved in in-patient management, out-patient clinics and procedural sessions as outlined above. The trainee may be rotated to sites within an agreed network as discussed with a head of department.
• The Advanced Trainee is responsible for assessment of patients, and ongoing day to day management under the direction of the appropriate AMO who has legal responsibility for the patient.
• The Advanced Trainee is responsible for appropriate documentation and communication with other staff members involved in a patient’s care. The Advanced Trainee has a responsibility for training and supervision of junior medical staff.
• The Advanced Trainee is responsible for the organisation of the clinical team and will contribute to the Departmental Administration and has responsibility for appropriately delegating clinical and administrative duties to the junior members of staff.

​​​​​​​Your application

·         HealthShare NSW will undertake the preference match for this position.

·         Preference forms will be emailed to those candidates successful for interview.

·         Candidates must complete and return form prior to interview.

·         Candidates have to opportunity to amend preference forms up to midnight on the day of interview

·         Applicants much complete all questions and criteria in the online application form.

·         NSW health is an Equal Opportunity Employer and encourage all suitably qualified applicants to apply, including Aboriginal People and people from racial, ethnic or ethno-religious minority groups and people with disability.

Selection process

• If the number of applicants exceeds the number of available positions, then a merit-based process will be used to select the best applicants for interview. As such it is possible that an applicant may not be offered an interview.
• Candidates who receive an offer to attend an interview will be contacted by email and notified of the time of interview. Interviews will be centralised and involve a panel with representation from a range of training sites within NSW.
• Unsuccessful candidates will also be informed by email.
• Following interview applicants will be ranked based on interview performance, resume and reference reports. Successful applicants will be notified and will be requested to complete hospital preference. Unsuccessful interview attendees will also be notified at this time.
• Successful applicants will be asked to rank hospital in order of preference. It is recommended that trainees rank all hospitals that they would be prepared to train at. Failure to rank a site may result in an applicant not being matched to a position.
• Following completion of the matching process successful applicants will be notified by email of the hospital they have been allocated to. Applicants will receive a single offer only. Trainees are required to accept or decline the offer within the timeframe given by NSW Health.
• In the event that there are excess positions due to hospital not being matched to a trainee or a trainee declining an offer these vacant positions will be offered the next highest ranked interview attendee.

For Further Information

• Please refer to the Position Description.
• For site specific questions please contact the person as listed above. Individual sites may also hold information nights to provide trainees with further information about training at their institution. These are organised by individual institutions and are not coordinated by NSW health.
• For further questions related to the selection process contact:
• Dr Mark Bonnichsen – Selection convenor
• Email: mark.bonnichsen@health.nsw.gov.au