NorDocs like the rest of the medical profession embraced webinars this year for its education program. When it became clear in early Autumn that the annual NorDocs Unconference held each June would not be possible this year it was agreed to trial the webinar format.
The philosophy behind our education program has always been that there is great value in local doctors speaking with their colleagues about the latest developments in medicine and how these might best be applied in our region.
Historically new approaches in medical practice take ten years until they are widely adopted. While there are few major breakthroughs, multiple small innovations bring about significant changes in day to day practice. It has been argued that the half life of knowledge in medical practice is ten years. While this timeframe has been questioned, all agree that it is quickening.
In August Drs Dom Simring and Jowita Kozlowska presented an update on carotid artery disease management. The session was facilitated by Cape Institute’s Medical Director, Dr Peter Silberberg. Cape has a long history in GP education and believes the traditional, case presentation style is the best for that target audience.
The format aims to limit the webinars to an hour with the presentation of two or three cases that each highlight some of the identified key learning points. Each case is followed by a short question and answer session. This format, focussing on the key points while allowing the audience to raise other issues and questions makes the meetings both entertaining and informative.
Confining the webinars to an hour, although admittedly they do tend to drift over that with the permission of the facilitator, is not too taxing for most practitioners at the end of a busy day. For those who are interested in the topic but cannot make the night, the meetings are recorded. The 2020 recordings can be found on the NorDocs webinar website and are freely available to NorDocs members.
The other meetings held this year were “A case of rashes and a rash of cases”, an update on psoriasis from the doctors at North Coast Dermatology, “Breast cancer management and MDT” with Rob Simon, Amy Scott and Julan Amalaseelan, and “Breathe Easier” with all three Lismore respiratory physicians, and the Pulmonary Rehab team of Lyn Menchin and Rocco Mico. The take home message from these three meetings is that biologics are big.
Feedback from users suggests that a meeting on a Tuesday or Wednesday night at 7.30 pm is the best time and NorDocs will hold a meeting each month from February to June 2021 in the second week of the month at that time. The topics requested by members to date are in ENT, Orthopaedics, Eating Disorders, Palliative Care, Gynaecology and Surgery.
Running the meetings is quite expensive and NorDocs thanks the sponsorship provided to date from Abbott Vascular, St Vincent’s Hospital and Janssen Immunology for their generous support.
If there is sufficient interest NorDocs would like to expand the program outside the Richmond Valley to the rest of our community in The Tweed and Grafton. Members interested in assisting us in this regard should contact
