Postgraduate Overview

The Department of Surgery at the Alfred as long had a commitment to postgraduate education through the leadership and commitment of the late David Rosengarten. The postgraduate training programme in surgery at the Alfred Hospital has established and maintained an enviable reputation of quality and effectiveness during the tenure of Sir Edward Hughes as Head of Department. A national postgraduate educational conference for surgeons was established and has been maintained. In more recent years a more intensive and more broadly based set of programmes have been established which include not only general surgeons but surgeons from other specialty areas, general practitioners and operating room nurses. The organisation and administration of these programmes is a major task which as been performed by Ms. Kathryn Noble. The preparation and presentation of the academic content of these programmes has been provided by the academic staff of the Department, both paid and honorary, and represents a contribution to the community which we believe provides a balance for the communities contribution to the clinical teaching of our undergraduates.

The Department has an established capacity, reputation and commitment to continue with providing postgraduate medical education to which ever groups it can best serve. We anticipate that progressively it will become more formalised with an increasing need for us to confirm that a registrant took part in the programme and that the objectives of the programme were achieved to a satisfactory level, and to provide accreditation of this.

The principal postgraduate educational activities can be grouped under the following four headings:

National & International Surgical Conferences

This tradition was begun in the early 1980's and has continued with at least one conference per year through to the present. The central topic for the conference generally reflects the expertise and interests of members of the Department with themes such as cancer, trauma, endosurgery and gastrointestinal surgery being prominent. At each conference a comprehensive book of abstracts of the papers presented is provided to each registrant. Following the meeting held in Cairns in 1990 a book of the proceedings was prepared and was published. The Faculty for each meeting has had overseas and interstate speakers and most members of the Department will contribute. The registrants come from all over Australia, the most represented group being community and rural surgeons of Victoria. These are frequently the surgeons who themselves contribute actively to our undergraduate and postgraduate training programmes.

Training in Endosurgery

The Department of Surgery at the Alfred has provided strong leadership in the introduction of endosurgical procedures to general surgery through the Centre for the Study of Endosurgery. This body was established to provide educational and training, research, advice to professional and government groups and data analysis and management. The postgraduate educational programmes have been a major commitment in time and effort, particularly during the initial years after the introduction of laparoscopic cholecystectomy in 1990. In particular we have provided programmes through which surgeons have been able to acquire the general knowledge regarding laparoscopy, knowledge of equipment requirements and knowledge and skills for performing endosurgical procedures.

The initial courses were conducted within the Alfred Hospital and within the Medical School and involved video links to the operating theatre and observation of laparoscopic procedures. Later courses involved live animal operating so that surgeons could have actual experience of the procedures. Then full operating set-ups were established with surgeons working in groups of three and having a full one day operative experience. A further day of talks and various practical exercises were conducted in the Medical School.

As the techniques for laparoscopic procedures have become more established in surgical practice, courses in basic laparoscopic procedures have not been offered since 1994. However, since 1995 the Department of Surgery has been conducting courses in laparoscopic surgical technique for treatment of morbid obesity on an annual basis.

Surgery for Lawyers

In the 1980's a series of seminars known as "Surgery for Lawyers" was set up under the auspices of the Monash University Department of Surgery. This in turn led to the production of a textbook "Medicine and Surgery for Lawyers" produced by the Law Book Company. The Law Book Company in 1995 requested the editors of that text book to produce a second edition. This is currently being done relying heavily on the input from members of the Monash University Department of Surgery. The purpose of this text book is to help the legal profession gain an understanding of the nature of disease, injuries and complex medical terminology.

Other meetings

In 1990 we organised a major international conference on a research topic central to the Department¹s research activities and entitled "Mechanisms of Injury, Protection and Repair of the Upper Gastrointestinal Tract". This meeting was conducted in Cairns as a satellite of the World Congress of Gastroenterology and attracted more than 230 registrants. The papers presented at the meeting were also provided as written reports. After editing these were prepared by the Administrative Officer of the Department into a book format and this has subsequently been published and provided at that time a state of art report on research in this area.

Arising out of the contributions of the Department to general practitioner education through the Pot Pouri Series and through contributions at the Victorian Postgraduate Medical Foundation Courses, we recognised a need for education of general practitioners into the management of haemorrhoids and other perianal problems and through this organised two Workshops in the technique of haemorrhoidal banding. Each workshop was oversubscribed and for those who were accepted as registrants it provided the knowledge and skills necessary for the application of this most useful technique.