Australasian Society of
Career Medical Officers
www.
ascmo.org.au
What's NEW ?
updated 15th October 2008
Members only
Industrial info
Education
CPDP (= CME)
Jobs for CMOs
Links
CMO Bulletin
Contact us
Join us
Next Meeting
Open Forum
Disclaimer
 A new concept in Continuing Medical Education resources for CMOs is the "CMO Club".
For more details go to "CMO Club" Continuing Medical Education Leave under utilised by many NSW CMOs.
It appears that many NSW CMOs remain unaware that changes to their award in 2005 have provided them with a clear entitlement to 7 working days (= 7 x 7.6hrs) of Continuing Medical Education (CME) leave per annum, with full reimbursement of expenses relating to that leave, provided they have worked as a CMO for a minm 12 mth period and the educational activity is relevant to their CMO position. CME leave (& associated entitlements) can accumulate to a maxm of 21 working days [= 21 x 7.6 hrs = 159.6 hrs]. Many CMOs would have now accrued this maxm entitlement and cannot receive any more unless they begin utilising their entitlements. CMOs have used this leave to attend conferences throughout Australia and New Zealand, such as the recent Spring Seminar in Emergency Medicine (see below). Some CMOs have used CME leave to attend courses with registration fees alone being greater than $3000 per position (eg 1 week ultrasound courses for Emergency physicians). ie: this is a valuable entitlement that can be used effectively to develop and maintain skills relevant to your position. Some CMOs taking advantage of their CME entitlements have experienced delays and/or difficulties when seeking approval for CME leave and reimbursement for associated expenses (such as meals, accommodation, travel, parking, course registration, etc). Most difficulties have arisen from Employers & CMOs being unfamiliar with CMOs entitlements to CME leave, as well as finding suitable forms to complete, etc. Some Area Health Services are using TESL (Training Education and Study Leave) forms designed for staff specialists to process CMO claims. Some have modified these TESL forms to better suit CMO needs. If you are having difficulties please familiarise yourself with Clause 16 of the NSW CMO Award (click here for a copy of NSW CMO Award). Provide your employer with a copy of this section. Once employers are made aware that the CMO Award provides a clear 'Entitlement' to CME leave + expenses, they usually assist you as best they can. If you continue to have difficulties you can contact David Brock via email davbrock@ozemail.com.au NB: During negotiations that led to the 2005 award, ASCMO insisted on the inclusion of the word 'ENTITLEMENT' in relation to leave & expenses for continuing medical education leave, and that approval for such activities 'SHALL NOT BE UNREASONABLY WITHHELD'. This means that any employer refusing to provide leave and/or financial re-imbursement for related expenses must have reasons that would withstand potential scrutiny before the NSW Industrial Commission. NSW Health's policy directive "PD2005_619 Travel Policy" outlines allowable travel expenses subject to the production of receipts. [source: www.health.nsw.gov.au/policies/pd/2005/pdf/PD2005_619.pdf] The latest copy of ASCMO's Journal ASCMO Times July 2008 is available for downloading from this website. (in Adobe Acrobat 'pdf' format).
To view past copies of ASCMO's journals Click here
The 2008
Spring Seminar on Emergency Medicine was held from Tues 30 Sept 2008 to Fri 3 Oct 2008 at the Novotel Twin Waters Resort on the Sunshine Coast, QLD
Australia
These Seminars have been very popular with CMOs across Australasia. Sponsors include ASCMO,ASEM and ACEM. The 2007 conference was held in Alice Springs and 2006 was held in Byron Bay in Northern NSW. Visit the Spring Seminar's website at www.phemc.org for further information. The next Seminar is due to be held in Broome, Western Australia in late 2009. ASCMO has obtained a Feb 2008 copy of revised Committee Guidelines for Senior CMO Grading in
NSW.
These guidelines are being used by the Grading committee when assessing applications. Therefore anyone wanting to apply for Senior CMO Grading in NSW, should ensure their applications cover all aspects within these guidelines.
Internal Search engines are
popular on the Web. We've got our own too! Now you can restrict your searches to
ASCMO's website with >100 pages relevant to CMOs. Try searching for something now!
|
 ASCMO's 2008 Annual General Meeting & Conference was
held on Saturday 26th & Sunday 27th July 2008 at
Brighton le Sands Novotel Hotel in Sydney. For full details of our next meeting Click here
CMOs in NSW receive a 4% payrise from 1st July 2006.
You can find an updated salary scale by clicking here.
There has been some confusion about the aniversary dates for CMOs progressing
up the salary scale in the NSW CMO Award. A letter explaining the various dates for progression can be found
here.
To join ASCMO click here. If you've forgotten the username/password combination send a request to officemanager@ascmo.org.au. CMOs in NSW receive a 4% payrise from 1st July 2006.
You can find an updated salary scale by clicking here.
On 20th May 2006, a
proposed Pilot Program for Hospitalists in some NSW public hospitals was presented to ASCMO's Annual General Meeting held in Sydney at the Novotel Hotel, Brighton le Sands.
Click here to view proposed Pilot Program for Hospitalists in NSW (May 2006) To apply for a username/password combination contact officemanager@ascmo.org.au To join ASCMO click here. To stay up-to-date with all things CMO, you are welcome to join
'ASCMO-talk@yahoogroups.com', the private email discussion list
for ASCMO's membership. It allows CMOs to place any problem/issue/idea before a group of your peers to canvas their opinions.
Or you can simply be a 'lurker', only getting involved if issues being discussed happen to interest you.
Currently 28 CMOs across Australia and NZ belong to this discussion list. This includes all ASCMO's committee members.
So if you want to get involved or stay up to date with the latest issues affecting CMOs, join this discussion list
by emailing David Brock at davbrock@ozemail.com.au or click here to join "ASCMO-talk".
ASCMO's next meeting will held during the
2006 Spring Seminar (Peripheral Hospitals) Emergency Medicine
Conference (Tues 3rd - Fri 6th October 2006) at
'The Byron at Byron' in Byron Bay, NSW. This has been a successful
conference aimed at CMOs and continues to be sponsored by ASCMO. Visit the Spring Seminar's website at
www.phemc.org for accomodation (discounted), registration and course details. Early bird prices if registering before 30/7/06. See you there.
At our 10th Anniversary AGM in May 2006,
Michael Boyd agreed to continue as President. We congratulate him
for ASCMO's achievements during his period of stewardship, including the new Award for CMOs in NSW. Michael can be contacted by email at
stringhouse@optusnet.com.au
for any concerns or suggestions for the future direction of our organisation.
The Doctors Health Advisory Service (DHAS) has notified ASCMO that there has been an
increase in the notifications it received in relation to Career Medical Officers, over
the previous 6 mths to December 2003.
It is not clear whether this is a trend, or short lived occurrence. The DHAS is also not aware if there have been any structural issues that might underlie this increase. The DHAS, therefore wished to remind ASCMO of its existence and its charter to provide support to doctors, veterinarians and dentists in NSW experiencing any level of psychological or physical distress. The Doctors Health Advisory Service "Helpline for NSW" = 02 9437 6552
The (Oct 2003) QLD SMO/RMO Award is available on ASCMO's website.
"BULLIES NOT WANTED". This guidebook was issued by the Sth Australian Ombudsman. Although aimed at Sth Aust workplaces
this comprehensive 48 page guidebook provides a balanced appraisal and considered suggestions.
If you are a target of bullying you will probably feel a lot better after reading this.
If you are having difficulty downloading this guidebook (Word document) click here
Letter from Medical Training and Education Council of NSW (MTEC),
asking ASCMO and CMOs for information on how CMOs receive training and education. by Evan Rawstrom, Executive officer, MTEC, June 2003
Minutes from ASCMO's 2003 Annual General Meeting, Mar 2003
Letter supporting introduction/invention of Advanced Trained CMOs in NSW by David Tree, Nov 2002
Work Life Flexibility Project - Letter to AMA, July 2002 by David Tree
Bullying in the Workplace
Latest "President's address, June 2002", by our new President, Dr David Tree.
Latest copy of the
"ASCMO Times" [April 2002] is now available. Its presented in Acrobat format.
To view past copies of the "CMO Bulletin" or obtain a copy of Acrobat reader
Click here.
Minutes from
2002 Annual General Meeting held in Sydney on 18th May 2002. Our name has changed from CMOA (Career Medical Officers Association) to ASCMO.
We can now expect to hold the domain name ascmo.org.au
indefinitely. The name change has prompted an extensive revision of our website.
We trust you will find it a useful and enjoyable resource. Salary Packaging will be available to all NSW CMOs working in
Public Hospitals from 1st Jan 2002 .. contact your Pay Office personnel for more details.
NB: As the Salary Packaging year runs March - March .. the full $17,000 per year is available for packaging in the 3mths to March 2002.
Furthermore, the CMOA recommends that all CMOs seek independent financial advice
before entering into any salary packaging arrangements with their employers.
Checkout our page of "CMO related
Cartoons", thanks to our resident cartoonist, Kien Coaxuan + friends NSW CMO's can expect a 3% payrise from Jan 2002
(Click here for details)
Peruse our "Selected Gems" by visiting
ASCMO's Miscellaneous webpages Visit more
Advertised positions for CMOs .. latest ads posted 11th Feb 2002
- yet again relegates CMO's to being juniors or rural gp analogues. This report completes the second part of the performance audit into NSW emergency departments. The first report (1998) looked at service planning issues. This report looks at patient flow issues. Together, these reports provide a detailed examination of the workings, problems and opportunities for improvements in NSW emergency departments. Learn all about
how to salary package a Motor Vehicle URGENT:
we need your comments to help refine the proposed coursestructure for a CMO "Masters In Clinical Medicine" (Draft No. 4 [27th April 2000] is now available for further comments) , The CMOA committee has co-authored an article on "Hospitalists"
published in the latest (April 3rd 2000) issue of the Medical Journal of Australia.
Visit our "Hospitalists" page (? a new role for CMOs) to view details.
Introducing "CMOAtalk",
our very own email discussion group.. an opportunity to discuss issues with your Career & Senior MO colleagues. .. to join, simply send an email to David Brock CMOA Submission to the
"Australian Society of Emergency Medicine (A.S.E.M.)" , relating to the role
of CMOs in the Emergency Medicine medical workforce. Written by Dr Stephen Delprado, our A.S.E.M. representative .
we have provided a copy of the
"Recommendations from the Mid-term review for Fed Govt's Provider Number Legislation" ..
tabled to Fed Parliament Dec 1999 .. (make you own comments about them in our Guestbook) QLD Senior Medical Officers'
and RMOs' Award (+ INTERPRETATION Manual) NSW Salary Sacrifice for Superannuation arrangements (April '99) Please complete our
"Feedback form" and
tell us what you think about our website
Proposed changes to NSW CMO Award
They will now be presented to ASMOF & HAREA (our industrial representatives) for further development and subsequent presentation to the Dept of Health for discussion and negotiation.
Multi-Skilled Medical Officers Agreement & Credentialling Criteria
CMOA Information Sheet |
