Southern DHB’s surgical consultants are encouraging excellence and improvement in the region’s junior doctors, by hosting a research prize day that showcases and acknowledges their work.
The initiative of Southland Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Amir Sandiford and General Surgeon Mrs Alice Febery, the inaugural Southland Regional Orthopaedic and Surgical Audit was hosted at Southland Hospital Campus Learning and Research Centre last week.
Junior doctors at the Southern DHB were invited to submit research project abstracts for consideration by Mr Sandiford and Mrs Febery, who chose ten speakers to present at the symposium from amongst 30 applications.
“All projects addressed topical issues and it was good to see and share what our young colleagues are doing. The purpose is to look at what we are doing, compare it against the gold standard and then keep improving. The symposium was also a chance for reflection, collegiality and networking,” Mr Sandiford said.
Mr Sandiford said that he and Mrs Febery had started work at Southland Hospital on the same day two years ago, and had seen a lot of good things happening that reflected high quality practice and excellent clinical practice, facets of care to be proud of.
“Things can change rapidly, and the onus is on clinicians to change with contemporary practice and continue to provide a high standard of care,” he said.
Mrs Febery said “Southland Hospital sees a significant amount of disease in a variety of forms for a regional area. Researching these in these areas has huge value to our region, and also in adding to the general knowledge base”.
They had been impressed with the quality of research and hoped to see applicants back again next year, well prepared and ready to participate in this ongoing event.
The judging panel for the symposium comprised Associate Professor and Orthopaedic Surgeon Mr Gordon Veale, Southern DHB Programme Director for Orthopaedics Mr Chris Birks, and Consultant Urologist Mr Michael Vincent. The judges chose the top three presentations on the day.
AWARD RESULTS
The top award, including a trophy and book vouchers, was won by Dr Magnus Cheesman for Out of scopes study – Evaluating video vs fibre cystoscopes prior to replacement purchase.
Second prize went to Dr Hannah Sim and Dr William Oldfield for their paper Opioid prescribing practices for elective total joint arthroplasty at Southland Hospital, and third prize to Dr Leo Stewart who examined the subject of Estimated versus actual length of procedures in Acute Theatre.
Mr Sandiford and Mrs Febery thanked all those who supported the event, including the Southern DHB, University of Otago, Associate Professor Konrad Richter, and industry partners which sponsored catering, prizes and helped with overall organisation of the event.