What’s been going on at RRIPM in October 2023?

The RRIPM October Update is an excellent opportunity to introduce two key members of the RRIPM team and to find out what’s been happening behind the scenes recently.

Project Manager, Jo Risk, and Project Officer, Karen Motyka live a kilometre apart on the NSW South Coast at Moruya Heads. They live on beautiful Walbunja country, part of the Yuin Nation. They work remotely from their coastal homes in the Eurobodalla shire, within the Southern NSW Local Health District.

Photo Caption: Forming a picture – Karen Motyka and Jo Risk, RRIPM Project Team

Take a look at what they’ve achieved in the last 2 months:

  • 50 Interviews
    • 36 with Palliative Medicine specialists and
    • 14 with key stakeholders

Geographically, they’ve covered all states and territories including the majority of Australia’s rural specialist palliative medicine services. There are still a few more to go.

They’ve taken a semi-structured approach, guided by recommendations from the RRIPM steering group. Plus, they’ve been a bit opportunistic by following up suggested leads from their interviewees.

Early themes emerging from their deep dive conversations include recruitment; accreditation; supervision; funding; workforce pipeline; College support; generalist v specialist training pathways; potential improvements and linkages; and workforce morale.

RRIPM Project Lead, Dr Christine Sanderson (Alice Springs) and Project Manager, Jo Risk are meeting in Adelaide in early November to review, analyse and contemplate what this scoping phase has delivered so far. The first draft of a report will take shape during November and December and will be circulated for review by the RRIPM Steering Group.

Keep your eyes peeled for a Trainee Survey that Karen and Jo will be distributing through the College Trainee Network and the ANZSPM mailing list. The link will be open for two weeks and they strongly encourage all trainees to grab a cuppa and fill it in. They are super keen to discover trainees’ thoughts on rural experience, placements, supervision, future career intentions, etc.

Upcoming events the team are also working on include:

  • Nov 23 -25: ANZSPM Medical Surgical Update in Melbourne: In a 5-minute slot on the program, Dr Louis Christie from the Western NSW LHD in Orange will give delegates a quick run-down on what RRIPM is all about.
  • Dec 14: A Reference Group webinar to introduce the RRIPM concept, stimulate interest and raise the RRIPM profile with a wider group of stakeholders.