KINGSTON, AUSTRALIA
AMC OFFSHORE MCQ EXAMINATION
The Australian Medical Council (AMC), as part of the joint project being undertaken with the Medical Council of Canada (MCC), is conducting an AMC multiple choice question (MCQ) examination offshore in July 2006. The examination will be undertaken in Hong Kong and Singapore on two consecutive days in each location [numbers permitting]. The AMC will conduct the computer administered examination in July 2006 as a one-off examination.
The AMC MCQ examination will be administered via computer with candidates scheduled through the AMC and the examination conducted at Clifton and Associates. Venue notice and entry tickets will be forwarded to candidates by the AMC together with the confirmation of placement in the examination. The format, content and scoring of the MCQ examination will be based on the AMC MCQ examination as undertaken by AMC candidates in venues within Australia. The examination is available to current AMC candidates, or intending AMC candidates [provided lodgement of the Form A and associated documentation for credentialing purposes has been received at the AMC by Friday, May 19, 2006, the closing date for new assessments.
Candidates intending to take the MCQ examination should refer to the AMC Examination Specifications Booklet — 2005 Series Examinations as a guide to the structure of the examination format. The Examination Specifications Booklet is available to existing AMC candidates and will be provided to intending AMC candidates, with the AMC information packs forwarded on completion of submitting the AMC Preliminary Application Form and associated fee. In order for candidates, and future AMC applicants, to familiarize themselves with the computer administered examination, a sample computer-based MCQ examination, consisting of 50 question items, is provided on the AMC website http://www.amc.org.au.
The computer administered MCQ examination, Part 1 and Part 2, is conducted over one day with the examination divided between a morning session for Part 1 and an afternoon session for Part 2 of the MCQ examination. Part 1 and Part 2 will consist of 125 question items each, as outlined in the AMC Examination Specifications Booklet – 2005 Series Examinations. In both Singapore and Hong Kong, two exam days have been scheduled on consecutive days to accommodate the expected number of candidates. Candidates will be required to present for one day only.
Reprinted from the Australian Medical Council website.
BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA
MEDICAL IDENTIFICATION NUMBER FOR CANADA
The increasingly complex, inter-related and computerized medical system in Canada has made the accurate and reliable identification of physicians more difficult than ever. Many medical health organizations have attempted to resolve this by issuing their own identifiers for physicians; the result has been a proliferation of identifiers, none of which is linkable with other appropriate organizations.
To address these challenges, all of the medical licensing authorities in Canada, including the College of Physicians & Surgeons of British Columbia (College), have endorsed the development of an identification system to provide physicians with a unique, lifetime, nationally-recognized standard identifier called the MINC number (Medical Identification Number for Canada). This identifier has been developed through the collaborative efforts of the Federation of Medical Regulatory Authorities of Canada and the Medical Council of Canada (MCC).
For an individual physician, the major benefit will be the ease and certainty of identification when applying for registration in a new jurisdiction, applying for privileges or dealing with any organization which maintains a listing or database of physicians and which is a licensed user of the MINC number.
There will be no cost to physicians or the College to obtain a MINC number for physicians, nor will physicians be required to complete any application form. However, in accordance with the Privacy Impact Assessment conducted by MINC, the College must obtain physicians’ signed consent for release of their personal information. With the physician’s authorization, the College will submit the necessary registration information to MINC#NIMC, which is the “not for profit” corporation operating the MINC system. (NIMC is the equivalent French acronym for MINC.)
MINC numbers will:
be a unique lifetime identifier assigned to every individual who enters the Canadian medical educational or practice systems;
be recognized by medical organizations nation-wide;
be a simple serial number with no encoded information, e.g., CAMD-9999-9999 (i.e., it will not be possible to determine from the MINC number the physician’s personal information). It is simply an identification number;
be issued by a central hub computer, at the request of one of the Canadian medical licensing authorities or MCC;
be held as confidential personal information by licensed users;
not replace a physician’s licensed registration number, LMCC number, provincial billing number (if any), nor any other identification number that the physician currently has;
not convey any status, rights or privileges; and
not change the way in which any information concerning physicians is released.
In order for a MINC number to be generated for physicians, the medical licensing authorities are requested to provide the physician’s name (plus previous names, if applicable), their gender, their date and country of birth, the university which granted their medical degree and their year of graduation, to the MINC database. Medical students will have their medical school and expected year of graduation submitted. The MINC system is governed by strict confidentiality provisions, and adheres to the Canadian Standards Association Model Code for the Protection of Personal Information. All personal information will be treated as confidential by the MINC corporation. Personal information will only be disclosed to other licensing authorities or to licensed users on a need to know basis.
Within the coming weeks, all physicians licensed with the College will receive a mailed request to authorize the College to submit a MINC number application on their behalf. As it is anticipated once the MINC system is fully operational, all medical licensing authorities will require applicants to provide (or to be provided with) a MINC number as part of the registration process, the College encourages all physicians to complete and return to the College the Consent for Release of Information form, authorizing the College to submit a MINC application on their behalf.
When a physician’s MINC number has been generated, the College will inform the physician of the MINC number. Implementation of the MINC system has been completed in a number of provinces. It is anticipated that the remainder of the provinces will follow shortly.
For further information on MINC, please visit the MINC website at http://www.minc-nimc.ca or call the College at (604) 733-7758, or toll free in British Columbia at (800) 461-3008.
Reprinted from The College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia website.
LONDON, ENGLAND
END OF LIFE – HOW SHOULD PATIENTS BE TREATED?
The General Medical Council (GMC) is currently touring the country, meeting with patients and doctors to discuss end-of-life care.
The meetings are aimed at examining the GMC’s guidance on withholding and withdrawing life-prolonging treatment, and assessing how relevant it is to those people directly involved in end of life care. The guidance is designed to provide an ethical and legal framework for doctors involved in caring for dying patients, and looks at issues such as:
Good communication with patients and their families and carers, about current care and future care plans.
How to decide to treat a patient if their wishes aren’t known.
What to do if the doctor has a conscientious objection to a patient’s wishes.
At the first patient event, which took place in Birmingham on May 18, 2006, Berni Blackledge of the Birmingham and Solihull Alzheimer’s Society, opened the debate by welcoming the opportunity to discuss the issues. Speaking at the event, she said, “It is clearly important that thought is given to how patients are treated at the end of their life. We would like to see greater use of living wills, more carers for people that need them, and more palliative care provided in a range of locations.”
Also participating in the debate was Dr. Keri Thomas, National Clinical Lead in palliative care and part of the NHS End of Life Programme. She said, “Giving appropriate care to dying patients should be a measure of how well we are doing as a health service and as a society. One per cent of the population will die each year, and it should be recognized that some patients will be too sick for hospital. We need to be able to have open conversations about end of life treatment, and create advance care plans where necessary.”
The GMC will be holding further events around the country over the next few months, before starting a consultation on revising the guidance later this year. Speaking after the event, GMC Head of Standards Jane O’Brien said: “It was extremely useful to hear the comments from people who work with dying patients every day. Hospices, charities and nursing homes all have a role to play in ensuring patients receive appropriate end of life care, and we are keen to ensure that our guidance is as relevant and helpful to them as possible.”
GMC CREATES DIVERSITY AND EQUALITY GUIDE
The GMC recently published an online guide giving information to doctors about diversity and equality issues. The guide has been developed to highlight best practice and provide information on current legislation. It features definitions, practical tips, key website links, links to relevant case studies and where, appropriate, has quoted from relevant GMC guidance. This easy to use practical guidance is designed to give doctors information, which help them to work with patients and to be good employers.
The resources guide covers the following topics:
Diversity and Equal Opportunities
General Principles of Anti–Discrimination Legislation
Age Discrimination
Beliefs/Religion
Disability
Race Equality Issues
Gender Issues
Sexual Orientation
Human Rights Issues
Effective Communications
Employment Relations Issues
Working with Colleagues
Dr. Edwin Borman, Chairman of the GMC Committee for Diversity and Equality said, “It is important for doctors to be aware of diversity and equality issues that may arise in the work place. This helpful guidance provides practical information for doctors and others to ensure all groups have equal access to shaping health care in our diverse society.”
The guidance supports the GMC’s work on diversity including the ‘Diversity for Doctors: towards solutions to the major equality and diversity challenges faced by doctors’ conference on March 28, 2006, at BMA house, where Dr. Borman will be speaking and participating in panel discussion. The key themes to be discussed at this conference will be, bullying, harassment, whistle-blowing, work life balance, stress, ill health, refugee doctors and international medical graduates (IMGs). An expert panel will help shape some specific recommendations to take forward from the event.
Reprinted from the General Medical Council website.
WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND
STATEMENT ON THE USE OF THE INTERNET AND ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATION
The Medical Council of New Zealand (Council) has now finalized a statement replacing the one on use of the Internet first published by the Council in June 2000 and revised in March 2001. The new statement contains fundamental differences to previous documents and many of these changes were made on the suggestion of key stake-holders. The draft extends some of the principles of the March 2001 statement, particularly in the area of telemedicine, to provide greater guidance to the profession. At the same time, the new statement aims to address the limits of technology and emphasizes the inherent risks currently involved in providing medical advice when physical examination of the patient is not possible. This statement can be downloaded in Adobe Reader PDF format here: http://www.mcnz.org.nz/portals/1/guidance/Internet%20guidelines%20-%20May%2006.pdf.
NEW NUMBERS WILL MEAN SIMPLER SYSTEMS
Doctors can expect a direct introduction to the Health Practitioner Index (HPI) by early next year, when they begin to receive their Common Person Number (CPN) as part of their normal renewal of registration process.
CPNs are unique identifiers that will eventually be allocated to all health practitioners in New Zealand. They enable linking of practitioners to the HPI, a database encompassing all registered practitioners. It is being created and managed by the Ministry of Health, working alongside Responsible Authorities (RAs) such as the Medical Council.
For doctors, the HPI will help to increase the accuracy of practitioners’, facilities’ and organizations’ identities, e.g., when ordering lab test results or submitting an ACC or HealthPAC claim. The same CPN will be used when dealing with ACC, HealthPAC, DHBs, laboratories, pharmacies, screening programs, other health care providers and national collections such as the NHI (National Health Index) and NIR (National Immunization Register). Over time it will simplify many business processes including prescriptions, test results and payment systems.
The Ministry of Health initiated the HPI after the landmark WAVE Report into health sector IT, published in 2001. The Ministry has worked alongside RAs such as the Medical Council to design the HPI and gather data. RAs will continue to provide data for the time being, but in the future doctors will be able to update parts of the database themselves. Users at ACC and the Hutt Valley DHB tested the system in early 2006 to explore how the data will be used. ACC plans to start implementing HPI identifiers as soon as internal system changes are completed. Vendors of practice management software are aware of the HPI system and are in the process of developing updates to their respective systems.
Once the HPI’s basic framework is complete and data from all RAs is registered, development will focus on data distribution so that authorized users such as DHBs and ACC will have online access to the HPI.
Security and privacy issues are a priority. The HPI exists within the Ministry of Health’s technical infrastructure, which has extensive border and other security measures.
As one of several steps to address privacy issues, the Ministry has developed a Privacy Impact Assessment, consulting with authorities including the Privacy Commissioner and RAs. Data Provision Agreements between the Ministry and RAs determine what information appears on the HPI and who may access it. Data Access Agreements between the Ministry and organizations such as DHBs and ACC will define what information they may access.
More information on the HPI, including privacy issues, may be found at http://www.nzhis.govt.nz/hpi
Reprinted from the Medical Council of New Zealand website.
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