The Vernon Collins Oration was established in 1981, in memory of Professor Vernon Collins, the first Medical Director of The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. He held this position from 1949 to 1960 and then became the Professor of Child Health in the University of Melbourne, before retiring in 1974.
We are excited to launch the Department of Paediatrics Academy, a community of practice on a shared platform across University of Melbourne, RCH and MCRI, as well as collaborating organisations.
In the digital world we live in now, communities of practice can be highly effective where the working context can be complex and ambiguous. This presentation will highlight the functions of a community of practice, learn firsthand from Boston Children’s Hospital’s Academy, as well as local experience from RCH Centre of Health Analytics.
Traditionally being considered a method for training healthcare professionals in basic and advanced life support, Simulation Based Education in healthcare has grown over the past 30 years and is now recognised to be effective in many other aspects of healthcare training. Focusing on enhancing patient safety, simulation initially concentrated on clinical procedural skills training and immersive deteriorating patient simulations, as well as simulations to enhance communication between staff and with patients and their families.
The Melbourne Children’s Campus is seeing an increase in the number of clinical trials of gene therapies, especially in vivo viral vector therapies. With some of these therapies now approved by the TGA, there is an expectation by families that these therapies will be available at the Children’s.
The Vernon Collins Oration was established in 1981, in memory of Professor Vernon Collins, the first Medical Director of The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne. Vernon Collins held this position from 1949 to 1960 and then became the first Professor of Child Health in the University of Melbourne, before retiring in 1974. The 2021 Vernon Collins Oration will be delivered by Professor Lynn Gillam AM, an experienced clinical ethicist and Academic Director of the Children’s Bioethics Centre at The Royal Children’s Hospital.
We have a National Roadmap, which includes COVID-19 vaccine coverage targets for the easing of restrictions. But how do children and adolescents fit into this, with regard the direct and indirect effects of Delta on their health and well-being?
Mental Health is an issue of growing concern across the community. This has been amplified through the COVID-19 pandemic. Child mental health is also an ongoing priority for the Melbourne Children’s Campus (MCC) and its three partners. The RCH treats many vulnerable patient groups (e.g., children with chronic illness, neurodevelopmental disorders, psychosocial challenges) with elevated risk of psychological and mental health difficulties. This extends across our inpatient and outpatient services and into the community. Despite this, mental health services can be fragmented and difficult to access.
Tuberculosis is a major cause of child morbidity and mortality globally. Young children are at particular risk of severe and disseminated disease following exposure to a person with tuberculosis. Public health and clinical services, including in Victoria, focus on early detection and treatment of both disease and infection. There have been recent developments that potentially strengthen and decentralise services for tuberculosis.
We are unleashing the power of data to improve child health. The first such Centre in Australia is a hive of potential and ideas, realising the shared vision of our campus partners. We are using data to advance and humanise many different perspectives of paediatric patient care.
Too often research evidence fails to inform practice or policy, and opportunities to improve children’s health and wellbeing are lost. The Melbourne Children’s Knowledge Translation and Research Impact Project, funded by the RCH Foundation, seeks to better understand campus KT and impact needs, and has developed and piloted strategies to advance knowledge translation, implementation and research impact.
