Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital (LCCH) joined the MEPA collaboration in 2015.
The Public and Fellows of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) demand and expect the highest standard of safety and quality in the delivery of comprehensive anaesthesia care [1].
The training of an ANZCA fellow is rightly demanding. A sizable amount of knowledge and clinical skills have to be learned and perfected; attributes and behaviours need to be developed; and professional attitudes with commitment to reflection and continual improvement embedded.
Paediatric Anaesthesia is a sub-speciality with unique challenges and with high expectations. One survey in 2010 found only 79% of new consultants agreed with the statement – “I am certain I can demonstrate paediatric resuscitation skills” and 50% felt that they currently met the requirements of the ANZCA paediatric module [2].
Simulation provides an opportunity for trainees to develop skills and clarify knowledge and apply these skills and knowledge to the management of emergencies without real lives being at stake. It allows expert debriefing to examine actions and behaviours and draw out valuable learning opportunities. Ultimately this encourages trainees to reflect on their practice and learning needs, and allows them to rise to meet the standards expected of them.
The MEPA collaboration provides peer-reviewed, literature-based scenarios covering core paediatric anaesthesia emergencies. It allows ANZCA trainees to meet the requirement of assessment of paediatric advanced life support skills and to better prepare the trainee for independent management of paediatric emergencies.
We aim to provide MEPA-T courses to registrars rotating through LCCH for their paediatric anaesthesia module starting May 2015.
We hope to expand to deliver consultant courses (MEPA-FC) later in the year.
Contact:
Dr Daniel Boyd, FANZCA MBChB
MEPA Co-Ordinator
Dr Vanessa Rich FANZCA MBBS(Hons) B. Inf Tech(Distinction)
MEPA Faculty, Supervisor of training
Vanessa.rich@health.qld.gov.au
Dr Derek Rosen, FANZCA BSc(Med) MBBS
MEPA Faculty
Dr David R Hill, FANZCA FRACGP MBBS
MEPA Faculty
Dr David Koskuba, FANZCA MBChB
Simulation Fellow, MEPA Faculty
David.Koskuba@health.qld.gov.au
[1] http://www.anzca.edu.au/resources/professional-documents/pdfs/Code-of-Conduct.pdf
[2] Castanelli DJ, Stevenson K, Monagle JP. The provision of anaesthesia for children by non-subspecialist anaesthetists: expectations of newly qualified consultant anaesthetists and their prospective employers in Victoria. Anaesth Intensive Care 2010; 38(5):911-919.
