CDT Chair update - March

The CDT has recently met for our inaugural meeting of the year. I will serve another term as CDT Chair and welcome Deputy Co-Chairs Drs Ekta Paw and Mikaela Seymour. The members of our Special Interest Groups (SIGs) are outlined below as well as our hospital representatives - we encourage you to get in touch with our local representatives with any concerns. We have highlighted a series of priority areas for the year including:

• better support for onboarding and orientation of IMGs
• combatting bullying and harassment
• ensuring adequate education and support around the implementation of the National Prevocational Framework (or two year internship) and
• responding to concerns around regional and rural workforce issues.

We are also keen to respond to concerns from doctors in training about safety at work, and will continue to work in this space. 

Another priority area is ensuring adequate standard of accommodation at rural and remote sites and our Rural and Remote SIG is keen to hear from you! Have you experienced excellent or subpar accommodation on a rural and remote rotation? We are currently completing an accommodation audit and would love to hear your experience, be it good, bad or ugly. Contact us with your experiences (pictures also welcomed) so we can better understand the issues in this space. We are also excitedly planning the Junior Doctor Conference, with inspiring speakers, procedural and practical skills sessions and a trip to see the reef all on the agenda - we look forward to seeing you there! 

The members of our Special Interest Groups are as follows: 

Industrial Relations Special Interest Group
Lead - Dr Antony Ji

Members
Dr Millie Nakatsuka
Dr Leang Tang 
Dr Kerinya Pillai
Dr Sahand Tahmasebi 

Rural and Remote Special Interest Group
Lead - Dr Isaac O’Dempsey

Members
Dr Mikaela Seymour
Dr Rushil Sharma 

Wellbeing Special Interest Group
Lead - Dr Emma Hodge 

Members
Dr Sonakshi Sharma
Dr Wisalya Wijesinghe 
Dr Saaini Sivakumaran
Dr Georgia De’Ambrosis
Dr Stephanie Elie Kov 

Training and Education Special Interest Group
Lead - Dr Jasmine Davis

Members
Dr Yasaru Gunaratne
Dr Brenda Ngo
Dr Angus Pegler
Dr Nikhil Divedi
Dr Vinod Rajasingham

We still have a number of representative positions available, and would love for any members interested in doctor in training advocacy to apply. Positions are still available for: 

• Mackay 
• Mater 
• The Prince Charles Hospital 
• Queensland Children's Hospital 
• Mount Isa 
• GP/rural generalist