Basic Physician Training

Welcome to the Compass 6 Consortium of Basic Physician Training (BPT).

All BPT in Victoria is facilitated by a Consortia, which is a group of metropolitan and rural hospitals. The Compass 6 Consortium comprises of six health services, which all make a vital contribution to the training, development and education of our trainees. Compass 6 trainees will undertake rotations across St Vincent's Hospital, Barwon Health (Geelong), Werribee Mercy, Central Gippsland Health Service (CGHS, Sale), South West Healthcare (Warrnambool) & Western District Health Service (Hamilton). All Compass 6 health services are accredited by the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP), and focus on candidates preparing for the RACP examination process (clinical and written).

The Compass 6 Consortium offers BPT trainees the opportunity to study, learn and be exposed to a multitude of clinical areas within the specialty of medicine. 

Compass 6 recognises the importance of training and education, and has a program that:

  • Is delivered across all of our health facilities and campuses 
  • Complements clinical exposure and the experience gained whilst working as an essential part of a medical team.
  • Allows individualised progression and development through the process of BPT.

The overall aim of the Compass 6 Consortium is to support trainees in their progression through the BPT program and to prepare trainees for their future practice as Physicians.

Consortium Director of Physician Training (DPT)

The DPT of Compass 6 oversees BPT across all six Compass 6 sites. This is in collaboration with the Director of Physician Education training (DPE) at each individual site. The program offers a full range of educational opportunities and aims to be dynamic and responsive to each individual trainee's needs. The DPE and DPTs are available to offer support, counselling and career guidance and act as advocates for trainees training and education.

Consortia Lead Organisation - St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne

DPT Compass 6 – Dr Belinda Smith

Consortium Hospitals

  • St. Vincent’s Melbourne – DPE A/Prof Wilma Beswick, Deputy DPE Dr Belinda Smith, Deputy DPE Dr Corinne Tey 
  • Barwon Health Geelong - DPE – Dr Cameron Jeremiah, Deputy DPE Dr Elizabeth George, Deputy DPE Dr Adam Hutchison
  • Central Gippsland Health Service, Sale Hospital - DPE – Dr A.K.M.Nizam Uddin
  • South West Healthcare, Warrnambool Base Hospital – DPE – Dr Meththananda Herath 
  • Werribee Mercy Hospital - DPE – Dr Marc Lanteri
  • Western District Health Service, Hamilton – DPE Dr Michael McVeigh 

Consortium Hospitals

St Vincent's Hospital Health Melbourne

St. Vincent's Health is an 843-bed health service. It provides acute medical and surgical services, alongside adult intensive care and coronary care units, aged care, rehabilitation, allied health, mental health, palliative care and residential care, as well as a range of community and outreach services.

St Vincent's Hospital is a major teaching, research and tertiary referral centre situated on the doorstep of Melbourne's central business district.

St. Vincent's aims for excellence in: patient care, teaching, training and research. Education is one of the three core businesses of St. Vincent's Health, along with patient care and research. Many senior staff play an active role in teaching and training, with a number of senior medical staff holding professorial appointments with the University of Melbourne.

St Vincent's Health offers a very strong record of commitment to clinical training and leadership with educational facilities that include a Simulation Centre, which is available for use for education and training.
Research plays a vital role throughout St. Vincent's Health, and the organisation supports many innovative projects and trials. The St. Vincent's Institute of Medical Research focuses on research in bone cell biology, cancer and heart disease. The extent of research work undertaken at St. Vincent's displays the outstanding commitment and achievement of individuals and research teams.

With the current extensive redevelopment being undertaken at St Vincent’s hospital, Fitzroy currently, it is certainly an excellent facility to undertake all aspects of basic physician training. 

Barwon Health Geelong

 

Formed in 1998, Barwon Health is one of the largest and most comprehensive regional health services in Australia. With more than eight thousand staff, we are one of Australia’s largest regional employers and the largest employer in Geelong. Barwon Health provides services for everyone who needs care, regardless of their financial status or the location of their usual residence. As a regional health service, Barwon Health provide leadership and tertiary referral services across the Barwon South West region. The local community comprises of the residents of the City of Greater Geelong, Colac Otway Shire, Golden Plains Shire, Borough of Queenscliff and Surf Coast Shire. 

Barwon Health provides services from the University Hospital Geelong Precinct in central Geelong, the McKellar Centre Precinct in North Geelong and other locations including the Sunrise Centre. With the exception of neurosurgery and transplantation, virtually all other specialties are available through University Hospital Geelong. We provide community health services from Anglesea, Belmont, Corio, Newcomb, and Torquay and dental services from Belmont, Corio and Newcomb. Our newest site is Barwon Health North in Norlane, providing child and family health services, renal dialysis, medical imaging, and an urgent care service. Mental health, drugs and alcohol services are provided at the Swanston Centre at University Hospital Geelong. 

Barwon Health:

  • Provides acute care (medicine, surgery, women’s health, paediatrics, emergency and specialist clinics), mental health, alcohol and other drugs services, primary care, community health, rehabilitation, geriatric medicine, palliative care and hospital in the home.  
  • Is one of four public radiation oncology providers in Victoria. 
  • Has a public/private partnership with Epworth Health Care to deliver surgery, renal dialysis and day oncology services at Epworth Geelong. 
  • Provides health promotion programs that aim to improve the health and wellbeing of the population.

As a major teaching hospital, we have relationships with Deakin University, LaTrobe University, the Gordon Institute and other tertiary education providers including the University of Melbourne and Monash University. We provide teaching and training for health professionals across all disciplines, at all career stages. We are committed to the concept of ‘grow our own’; resulting in a range of initiatives that invest in leadership and development. Our people are committed to continuously improving their skills to provide best care. We collaborate, lead, generate and facilitate research. We seek to embed research in routine clinical care to create a learning healthcare system. The Barwon Health Foundation is our key partner in philanthropic endeavours.

Central Gippsland Health Service (CGHS) Sale

 

CGHS is the major provider of health and aged care services in the Wellington Shire, serving the immediate population of Central Gippsland and wider community in East Gippsland in terms of more specialised services such as perinatal services, critical care, Respiratory & Sleep Medicine, CCU, Dialysis, Acute care Medicine, Geriatrics and surgery.

The health service has acute campuses at Sale, Maffra and Heyfield; community and home support services are provided throughout the Shire of Wellington (with the exception of Yarram and District) with centres in Maffra, Sale, Heyfield, Rosedale and Loch Sport; and residential aged care services at Sale, Maffra and Heyfield.

Sale Hospital is the largest hospital campus within Central Gippsland Health. It has a 24-hour emergency department, operating theatres, Critical Care Unit, Level 3 neonatal and level 4 maternity services, paediatrics, dialysis, oncology, and general medical and surgical wards.

Central Gippsland health supports Basic physician trainees and from this year also staring Advance training in General Medicine which is already approved by RACP.

South West Healthcare (SWH) Warrnambool Base Hospital

 

SWH, Warrnambool Campus is a modern, well-equipped general hospital servicing a catchment area of approximately 110,000. It provides a wide range of services, including acute, rehabilitation, and aged care together with an extensive range of primary and community health services.

BPT trainee positions are intended to provide responsibility and a broad range of medical experience whilst working as part of an overall medical team. They will liaise closely with the local Physicians and are expected to participate in the training program provided. Physician ward rounds occur daily, Division of Medicine Clinical meetings weekly and consultant support is readily available when required. Clinical teaching is supported by a well-resourced library available twenty-four hours a day. 

Werribee Mercy Hospital

 

Werribee Mercy Hospital is a general hospital providing comprehensive care in the south Western region of Melbourne. The hospital provides emergency, surgical, medical, intensive care, sub-acute, mental health, palliative, maternity and newborn care, and on-site renal dialysis. Construction of a new emergency department is underway. Medical training on site involves teaching ward rounds, weekly formal lunchtime presentations, weekly journal club, and long and short case tutorials as preparation for the clinical exam.

Western District Health Service (WDHS) Hamilton Base Hospital

 

Located in Victoria’s Western District, WDHS serves the Southern Grampians Shire, with a population of 16,100 and covering an area of 6,652 square kilometres. Hamilton is the main retail centre, supported by nine surrounding townships of Balmoral, Branxholme, Byaduk, Cavendish, Coleraine, Dunkeld, Glenthompson, Penshurst and Tarrington. WDHS also serves the communities of Merino and Digby in the Glenelg Shire.

Western District Health Service (Hamilton Base Hospital) is a referral centre primarily servicing the Southern Grampians/Glenelg Shires with 75 acute patient beds. 

Rotations to Hamilton are a genuine general medicine experience. Basic and advanced trainees benefit from a wide range of medical presentations. There are unique learning opportunities regarding medical practice in a regional setting, including the rewarding engagement with the local community. Medical training includes daily ward round teaching and weekly Grand Round presentations. Trainees are also provided the opportunity to partake in subspeciality outpatient clinics in oncology, neurology and respiratory medicine.

Compass 6 BPT Program

All hospitals within the Consortium offer varied and complementary opportunities for the practice of medicine and provision of excellent patient care. Each site has a structured training program that utilises the individual hospital's strengths and provides training and learning opportunities for all trainees. These in turn contribute to a consortium-wide training program that is comprehensive and of the highest standard.

The overall aim of the Compass 6 Consortia is to support trainee physicians in their progression through the training program and to positively influence practice to prepare them as future physicians. 

Recruitment process

  • Applications to St. Vincent’s Hospital are via Workday which can be found on the St. Vincent’s Hospital internet site.
  • Advertisements for positions generally open in early June and applications from external applicants are most welcome
  • For BPT 1 and BPT2 positions external applicants will be required to apply to the hospital and also register for the relevant PMCV match. Applications from external trainees for BPT3 or BPT3+ will be directly to the hospital via Workday.
  • The hospital does not participate in the PMCV match for BPT3 or BPT3+ positions.

Selection Process

  • Candidate applications will be reviewed and ranked based on the application letter, C/V, and short listed candidates will be invited for interview. Referee reports will form an important part of the selection process for applicants.
  • Applicants for BPT3 and BPT3+ will be directly notified by the Medical Workforce Unit of the outcome of their application as soon as the  recruitment process has been completed .
  • For BPT1 and BPT2 applications trainees will be notified of the outcome of the match via the PMCV.
  • Support with the PMCV process can be accessed via an email to allocations@pmcv.com.au

Referee Assessment

  • The Referee Assessment process is managed via PMCV for BPT1 and BPT2.
  • The hospital will manage the referee assessment process for BPP2 and BPT3 and 3+

Interviews

  •  Personal interviews will be conducted with short-listed candidates

Rotations

HMO & Registrar annual roster and rotations are developed in order to meet each trainee’s needs. 

Rosters are generated after the recruitment process has been completed, and all successful candidates are invited to submit a preference list of rotations, annual leave and preferred study course leave for those preparing for the RACP exams. Rosters are built as equitably as possible, with consideration of career goals, training requirements and specific requests.

 Barwon Health

  • Cardiology
  • Diabetes/Endocrinology
  • Gastroenterology
  • General Medicine
  • Geriatrics
  • Haematology
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Intensive Care
  • Medical Oncology
  • Nephrology
  • Neurology 
  • Palliative Care
  • Respiratory
  • Stroke
  • Intensive Care


Western District Health Service (Hamilton Base Hospital)

  • General Medicine
  • Subsepecialty outpatient clinics in Neurology, Respiratory Medicine and Oncology

 

St Vincent's Health

  • General Medicine
  • Renal
  • Haematology (SVH and PMCC)
  • Gastroenterology
  • Cardiology
  • Oncology (SVH and PMCC)
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Haematology
  • Intensive Care 
  • Neurology
  • Endocrinology
  • Respiratory
  • Infectious Diseases
  • Geriatrics
  • Addiction Medicine


South West Healthcare (Warrnambool Base Hospital)

  • General Medicine


C.G.H.S. (Sale)

  • General Medicine


Werribee Mercy

  • General Medicine

Orientation

The Compass 6 BPT Consortia hosts a welcome/orientation session for all BPT trainees in February. This provides an opportunity to meet staff and colleagues, as well as to hear the training schedule for the upcoming year.

Dates and details will be communicated to all trainees prior to Orientation.

Mentorship

All Compass 6 Consortium recognises the benefits for BPTs having a mentor. A mentor may play many roles for a BPT. A well-chosen mentor can provide advice, coaching, encouragement, feedback and support throughout basic physician training. It is strongly suggested that trainees choose a mentor to provide guidance through their career development. Information about choosing and approaching a mentor will be provided at the initial orientation session.