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Postgraduate Training Programme

In 1980, a postgraduate training programme was established for young paediatricians who wish to work as neonatologists. This programme is accredited by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians to Advanced Trainees in Neonatal/Perinatal Medicine.

In addition to Australian medical graduates, our neonatal programme has offered the opportunity for postgraduate neonatal training to 117 overseas medical graduates from 33 countries including Bangladesh, Belgium, Brunei, Canada, China, Egypt, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Kuwait, Macau, Malaysia, Mauritius, New Zealand, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Philippines, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the U.S.A. Over half of these overseas medical graduates were funded independently, being recipients of scholarships from their own universities or hospitals or governments, WHO, APSSEAR, AIDAB and NHMRC.

A number of these neonatologists are now leading the development of perinatal-neonatal services in other Australian states or within their own countries.

OBJECTIVES AND SCOPE OF TRAINING PROGRAMME

Clinical

  • Major physiological adjustment in pregnancy; common disease states associated with pregnancy; risk factors which identify the high risk pregnancy.
  • Clinical diagnostic tools for the evaluation of the progress of pregnancy - endocrine tests, ultrasound, amniocentesis.
  • Evaluation of fetal oxygenation and nutrition; relationship between growth and development of the placenta and the fetus.
  • Impact of maternal drug intake and infections on fetal and neonatal development.
  • Evaluation of the progress of labour; management of preterm labour.
  • Major emergencies at the time of delivery; including experience with resuscitation.
  • Knowledge in respiratory and acid-base physiology; competence in the management of complex cardiorespiratory problems of the neonate, including assisted ventilation, high-frequency oscillatory ventilation, and inhaled nitric oxide therapy.
  • Understanding of nutrition and its impact on neonatal development; competence in parenteral nutrition techniques.
  • Competence and skills in the application of cerebral ultrasonography in the diagnosis and management of intracranial haemorrhage, ischaemia and other neurological lesions.
  • Experience in other major medical and surgical disorders affecting the newborn, including diagnostic cardiology and understanding in clinical, echocardiographic and catheter data.
  • Routine nursery management, with emphasis on parental counselling and psychosocial aspects of maternal-child-family interaction.
  • Competence and skills in long-term neurodevelopment follow-up assessment of high-risk survivors following neonatal intensive care.
  • Administration of a nursery, including the organisation of regionalised care, nursing staffing, infection control and environmental safety.
  • Skills and knowledge in organisation of newborn emergency transport.
  • Experience in the use and evaluation of biomedical equipment used in neonatal care.
  • Experience in tabulating and evaluating institutional and regional fetal and neonatal morbidity and mortality.

Education

  • Participation in joint educational programmes with obstetricians and paediatrician at Monash Medical Centre.
  • Involvement in the teaching of medical students, residents, registrars and nursing staff in aspects of well and sick newborn care at Monash Medical Centre.
  • Participation in the instruction of postgraduate students in the Neonatal Intensive Care Nursing Course at Monash Medical Centre.
  • Attendance at rounds and educational sessions at the other three Neonatal Intensive Care Units in Melbourne.
  • Development of skills as an educator of community paediatricians and general practitioners through participation in a community outreach programme.

Research

  • Training in research design (i.e., selection of an appropriate and meaningful problem for study, choice of subject and technique, etc.), data collection, data analysis, and the evaluation of inferences and conclusions.
  • Preparation, submission and publication of the data in a peer review journal or presentation of the data at major scientific meetings.
  • Familiarity with the ethical issues surrounding research in man and the operation of human research committees.
  • Understanding of the meaning of "consent" and the implications and responsibilities assumed by the investigation.
  • Understanding of principles and techniques of basic research in fetal and neonatal physiology through contact with scientists at the Centre for Early Human Development at Monash Medical Centre.
  
Neonatal Information