Education
A general resolve to improve the relevance of the Refresher Courses to trainees resulted in Board agreement with the concept of the Chair of Education, Dr Donal Ryan viz. that of having one course at the end of the year and another at the beginning of the following year – with a view to being more specifically focussed on the exams in April-May. The concept of thematic meetings e.g. cardiovascular critical care, neuro-critical care etc) to be retained. The idea of combining with other meetings e.g. BASIC or Beyond BASIC courses was favoured as was the idea of resurrecting the idea of an MCQ element to the speaker contributions. Such MCQs could in turn be utilised by the exam committee for its MCQ bank.
It was submitted by the ICSI (following a letter from Organ Donation Transplant Ireland) that there needs to be continuing high level emphasis on Training in the diagnosis of Brain Death nationally. Noted that IDAP (Irish Donor Assessment Programme) course is evolving to a very modern and relevant format and that it is open to all doctors who have an Intensive Care practice – not just to FJFICMI trainees, for whom it is obligatory.
Recent EDIC part 2 exam
European Diploma of Intensive Care (part 2) was organised successfully (November 2017) by the JFICMI Chair examinations, Dr Andrew Westbrook, and the exams office of the CAI, on behalf of the ESICM’s EDIC committee. The organisation worked well including the use of iPads and the immediate uploading of results to the ESICM. Examiners who participated were thanked by Dr Westbrook and they will get credits towards attendance at a future ASM of the ESICM.
2018 appointments to SIY & post-CSCST (year 2) training posts
The JFICMI Training Committee agreed to the CAI request to conduct interviews for Anaesthesia trainees who aspired to Special Interest Year (SIY) training positions in ICM in 2018. This appeared to work well and five quality, interested candidates were recommended. The post-CSCST interviews (for ICM year 2 training) were interviewed on the same day and four suitable candidates were identified. Depending on position availability, three or four will be appointed.
New JFICMI Board member
The JFICMI has been in the process of appointing a lay member to its Board for a time and is now delighted to welcome Mr David Hickey, who attended the November Board meeting for introductory purposes. Mr Hickey brings with him a wide background which include medical regulatory and legal areas of expertise and his joining of the the Board is particularly welcomes at this time for the Joint Faculty.
New legal / financial (governance) status for Joint Faculty
In the December 2017 re-submission to the Medical Council, applying for recognition of the JFICMI’s postgraduate training programme, the following wording has been agreed for the JFICMI’s governance status.
The Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland was established in 2008 by agreement with the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland, the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland as an evolution of the Conjoint Board of Intensive Care Medicine, which was established in 1994. It is a Joint Faculty, in that it has representation from the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland, the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland and the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland. The primary function of the JFICMI as agreed by all its constituent colleges and bodies is to represent Intensive Care Medicine in Ireland in respect of training, examination and accreditation in intensive care medicine. This is in line with international best practice. From a governance perspective, JFICMI is a Faculty within the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland, which is one of 13 post graduate specialist training bodies recognised by the Medical Council of Ireland. This governance construct has been agreed with the other constituent training bodies, RCPI and RCSI. The overall governance of the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland is its Council and the Board of JFICMI reports directly to the Council of CAI.
Re-submission to Medical Council of Training Program application
The November Board meeting reviewed the work being done on the revised submission and there was commendation to the sub-group involved for bringing it to a new standard in time for the December 2017 re-submission date. The main changes in the re-submission are:
1. A revision of the overall document which now incorporates summary elements of the two new documents below.
2. A new Training Programme ‘unifying document’ describing ICM supra-specialty training in Ireland – with enhanced (organogram) clarity for those entering from different specialty training backgrounds.
3. A new ‘Curriculum’ document which integrates the Cobatrice-based curriculum with related training resources, assessment modalites and with the Medical Council’s own Domains of Professionalism.
Scientific / clinical meetings
Dr Ignacio Martin-Loeches was commended for his work in organising the recent 23rd International Symposium on Infections in the Critically Ill patient. The Kate Flynn prize organised in association with the ICSI worked well and the quality of case presentations was well received by the visiting speakers. The next meetings are the Refresher Course (organised by Dr Donal Ryan) on the 26th April and the IDAP course on the 4th May – organised by Dr Ian Conrick-Martin. JFICMI trainees are reminded of the requirement to participate in the IDAP course as specialist expertise in the clinical scenarios surrounding Brain Death is regarded by the Joint faculty as a required, core competency of ICM training.
The ASM of the ICSI takes place on 8th and 9th June and two distinguished visitors were approved for the awarding of Honorary Fellowships.
New Training Committee
The members include Board members and the nine Supervisors of Training nationally under the chairmanship of Dr Brian Marsh. Its primary function is the co-ordination of the JFICMI’s supervised training as collated on the website logbook and competency achievement recording system. The committee is an avenue for improved interaction with the CAI Training committee (particularly in relation to the Special Interest years in ICM) and with the RCPI / ICHMT with regard to the organisation of ‘year-out’ training opportunities in ICM. Ongoing upgrading of the Trainee logbook / competence sign-off facility is evolving in conjunction with the website group.
Hospital Inspections: Beaumont hospital, following re-inspection, received commendation and was approved for Special Interest Year training in ICM.
Board matters
Newly elected members: The board was pleased to welcome Drs Alan Gaffney and Jennifer Hastings and to wish them well in their time on the Board. Some terms of office are completed – Dr Maria Donnelly has done two terms as Treasurer and she was thanked for her dedication and work. The position of Treasurer is therefore now becoming vacant and there was a call for expressions of interest.
Website changes: It is anticipated that the new Treasurer’s role will be facilitated by a current project of the website group which is updating the Faculty website such that the categories of membership will be more clearly defined and the invoicing system correspondingly upgraded. One consequence will a better definition of the category of ‘JFICMI trainees’. This will entail a charge of 50Eur per year while a trainee – a charge which will not change up to the time of appointment to a substantive consultant position.
Medical Council:The re-submission for recognition of the JFICMI’s Training Programme has been the subject of considerable work by members of the Joint Faculty and others and the revised submission is under consideration by the Medical Council. Given the work and expectations (of trainers and trainees) involved, it is fervently hoped that this Medical Council will be in a position to grant recognition before its term ends on the 31st May.
JFICMI special Board meeting 17 July 2018.
A special summer Board Meeting was held to discuss the Medical Council’s report on the “Programme of Specialist Training in Intensive Care Medicine”. This Accreditation report has been received by the Joint Faculty after the Council’s last (May) meeting. The conclusions or primary recommendations of this report were that the Programme of Specialist Training in Intensive Care Medicine and the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland (JFICMI) should be approved by (the Medical) council on condition:
- That the first full training cycle must be completed leading to the award of a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training to each successful graduate of the programme.
There were four other ‘priority recommendations’
- Clarify and publish selection criteria for candidates entering the programme,
- Set milestones for trainees / trainers,
- Use regular, multi-source feedback in the assessment of candidates
- Adopt an expanded role for the extern examiner at the FJFICMI examination.
The Board of the Joint Faculty debated the report in full and the conclusion and recommendations were accepted and welcomed. Those who had been involved in collating the re-submission of the Training Programme and in representing the Joint Faculty at the Medical Council were commended.
The Board reviewed the considerations relating to the Action and Implementation plan required by the Medical Council and this will be completed and returned to the Medical Council by its due date in September. An invitation to meet the Medical Council to discuss the plan is then anticipated.
Other issues discussed were the need to open the Specialist Register for Intensive Care Medicine and (at a minimum) admit Trainers to the Specialist Register; also, given that the completion of the ‘first full cycle leading to the award of CSCST (in ICM)’ is anticipated in 2021, the need to continue to represent the interests of current trainees and those who have been in training since the programme started in July 2014.
JFICMI honours Mary White and Brian Kavanagh
Firstly I would like to thank the JFICMI and the College of Anaesthetists for the invitation to deliver the citation for Professor Mary White tonight. I know that many in this room will have studied, trained and worked with Mary White both here in Ireland and in Australia,. For those who have not had this opportunity I would like to briefly summarise Mary’s academic and professional journey to date.
Mary hails from beautiful Carlow. Carlow is obviously a wonderful place, and is a very unfairly and grossly underappreciated part of Ireland. Daughter of Mick and Kitty, both of whom were well known and tremendously well liked in Carlow, Mary completed her secondary school years at St Leo’s College for young ladies and subsequently commenced medicine at University College, Dublin. Mary swiftly completed her degree at UCD. However despite her intensive studies she found time to meet one Michael Goggin whom she later married and with whom she subsequently had 5 fantastic kids.. Having chosen Anaesthesia as her preferred specialty, Mary completed the Eastern Regional Anaesthesia Training Scheme, during which she discovered and developed an interest in Critical Care Medicine. And, like many critical care specialists in Ireland she elected to travel to Australia for further experience and training.
On her return from Australia she took a consultant position in anaesthesia and critical care at St James’s Hospital here in Dublin, where she worked for several years in the growing specialty of Critical Care Medicine. She was one of the pioneers in this field in Ireland, along with Dermot Phelan, Ed Carton, Brian Marsh, Tom Ryan, Ciaran Crowley, Jeanne Moriarty and Kate Flynn. It was an exciting time in many ways, with the recognition that Critical Care Medicine was a specialty in its own right, and that it would be possible to work primarily or exclusively in CCM, opening a myriad of, clinical, research and educational opportunities. Mary was actively involved from the outset, becoming a founding ICSI council member, examining in the original Irish Diploma in Intensive Care Medicine and mentoring enthusiastic trainees. However, unfortunately for SJH the lure of sun, sea and sand proved too strong and in 1997 Mary ultimately relocated with her growing family to Adelaide, South Australia to take up a post as Senior Consultant in critical care medicine at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where she continues to work to this day.
Having returned to Adelaide, Mary continued to lead in undergraduate and post-graduate critical care education. In addition to numerous publications and presentations, she was appointed Associate Professor in the Discipline of Acute Care Medicine at the University of Adelaide in 2010 and remains heavily involved in the ongoing development of acute and critical care undergraduate and post-graduate educational programmes. The Australian and New Zealand Intensive Care Society. ANZICS is a leading advocate on all intensive care related matters in Australia and New Zealand and is a world leader in intensive care research through its Clinical Trials Group and patient databases. The Society is involved with, and influential in, all aspects of intensive care medical practice through ongoing professional education, the provision of leadership in medical settings, clinical research and analysis of critical care resources. As South Australian Regional Chairperson, then National Honorary Secretary, then National Vice-President and ultimately National President Mary has devoted many years of work and expertise to ANZICS and remains an invaluable committee member. Current other executive appointments include, but not limited to Chairperson of the Australian Council on Healthcare Standards Intensive Care Working Party, Co-Chair, ANZICS/CICM Advisory group on training and competencies for recognising and responding to clinical deterioration, Member of Medical School Advisory Committee, Australian Medical Council. In addition to her Australia-wide educational work, Mary continues to lecture on The Annual Short Course in Intensive Care Medicine. Previously known as Tub’s course this is an institution in Australian Critical Care. Originally run by Tub Worthley, and based in Adelaide until mid 2000’s it was, and remains “the” pre-fellowship course for all hopeful exam candidates. In a similar vein Mary organises Tub’s Travelling Scholarship. This is a South Australian initiative which gives Critical Care trainees the opportunity to present their research to a wide audience, with a prize fund specifically to travel and work in Critical Care in another jurisdiction.
This is a very brief synopsis and only a small sample of Mary’s contribution to Critical Care Medicine, here in Ireland and in Australia-New Zealand. Throughout her career she has championed and prioritised critical care education and training. From her time as a young anaesthesia trainee when she convened the first annual scientific meetings for anaesthetists in training, through the early days of Irish Critical Care Medicine to current times where she continues to lead undergraduate and post-graduate training in Acute Care Medicine at state and national levels in Australia. I have been fortunate to work with Mary as a trainee in Ireland and as a consultant colleague in Australia, and have benefitted at first hand from her mentorship, advice and unswerving support in difficult situations. I know many other trainees have likewise benefitted in this manner, including numerous international trainees, and especially those travelling from Ireland. I have also had the privilege of having Mary and Michael as friends for many years and have seen her Irish Australian fantastic kids grow to fantastic adults. I have no doubt that Mary’s work in Critical Care, particularly in the field of Critical Care education, and her strong links with the Irish critical care community, will continue to benefit us both here in Ireland and in Australia.
President and Dean, I propose Professor Mary White as a worthy recipient of an Honorary Fellowship of the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Critical Care Medicine in Ireland and Australia.
7June2018Brian Kavanagh graduated from University College Dublin (Ireland) in 1985, winning the Maginnis gold medal for Medicine that year at St Vincent’s University Hospital. He completed a 2 year rotation in Medicine at St Vincent’s University Hospital and obtained his Medical Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 1988. His strong interest in scientific research was evident from the earliest stages of his career, and he obtained a first class honours degree in Pharmacology from UCD in 1989. In 1989, Brian moved to Toronto, Canada, where he completed residency and fellowship training in Anesthesia at the University of Toronto, receiving his Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada in 1992. During his residency training, Brian received multiple awards, including the Hynryck Rothbart award for best resident research presentation from the University of Toronto department of Anesthesia in 1990, the Resident Research Award from the Canadian Anesthesiologists Society in 1993, and the Residents Essay award from the American Society of Anesthesiologists in 1994. Brian coauthored a number of important papers during this time, including key early descriptions of pre-emptive analgesia and neuroplasticity. He also somehow managed to complete the then 4-year anesthesia residency program in 3 years. Brian then moved to Stanford University for clinical and research fellowship training under the mentorship of Professor Ron Pearl, an internationally renowned expert in vascular biology. During his time at Stanford, he published several important papers on the biology and mechanisms of action of nitric oxide in the injured lung. He also obtained Board Certification from the American Board of Anesthesiology in both anesthesia and Critical Care Medicine. Combining multiple roles, as he has often done so well, Brian also worked as an attending staff anesthesiologist and intensivist during this time at Stanford University Medical Center and the VA hospital and Paolo Alto, California.
He returned to Toronto in 1994, taking up a position as staff anesthesiologist and intensivist at the Toronto General Hospital, and establishing his first independent laboratory there. He obtained independent grant funding, and published his first papers on the effects of hypercapnia in acute lung injury there. In 1999, Brian was recruited to the Department of Critical Care Medicine at the Hospital for Sick Children where he currently works as a clinician-scientist in the Critical Care Department and the Research Institute there. Brian was appointed the inaugural holder of the Dr. Geoffrey Barker Chair in Critical Care Medicine at Sickkids in December 2003. In July 2005, Brian was appointed a full Professor Departments of Anesthesia, Medicine & Physiology July at the University of Toronto. In 2009, he was appointed a Senior Scientist in the Program in Physiology & Experimental Medicine at the Research Institute of the Hospital for Sick Children.
Brian was appointed the Chair of the University Department of Anesthesia in July 2006, and served 2 highly successful terms as chair, completing his second term in July 2017. The department of Anaesthesia at the University of Toronto comprises over 300 active faculty members. During his time as Chair, Brian introduced several highly innovative initiatives. He developed a clinician scientist research track within the anaesthesia residency program, which is now producing world class early career researchers in anaesthesia, intensive care and pain medicine. His creation of a merit awards grants system for faculty members recognizes excellence in research and teaching by existing and new Department members, and has been adopted as a model for other Departments within the Faculty. Brian has worked with hospital chiefs across the University of Toronto hospital system to leverage Department funds to create perpetual endowments that fund protected academic time for 7 chairs of Anaesthesia. These initiatives, and indeed others, have had a transformative and lasting effect on the U of T department of Anesthesia. The Department is now ranked second in academic productivity in North America only to Harvard University Department of Anaesthesia. Brian – naturally – wonders why it is not number 1!
Brian is a highly productive researcher. His own laboratory investigates mechanisms of ventilator-induced lung injury and the actions of carbon dioxide in the lung. As a practicing intensivist, his work has focused on understanding the biology of lung injury, with the ultimate aim to find testable therapies for patients with ARDS. He has made multiple important scientific contributions to this field. First, he hypothesized and then proved, using several experimental models, that hypercapnia could attenuate acute lung injury, and elucidated multiple key mechanisms of action. Several other Irish fellows, including Nuala Cregg, Damian Murphy, Michelle Duggan, Conan McCaul and myself, were fortunate enough to work in his lab during this time. This work has changed how we think about carbon dioxide management in the critically ill, and has influenced over 10 clinical trials. It has also identified specific injury mediators and pathways that are now being targeted directly as potential therapeutic strategies for ARDS. Second, Brian’s group provided the first demonstration of gene activation caused by ventilator-induced lung injury. They then identified key genes that were upregulated and that exerted pathogenic effects in this setting, and that blocking these genes reduced injury and was a potential therapeutic target. Third, he demonstrated that negative pressure ventilation may lessen lung injury. When applied to the abdomen it may selectively recruit dorsal atelectasis. This is the first approach to selective recruitment since the proposal for prone positioning, 30 years ago. A prototype ventilator is currently moving forward towards clinical testing. Fourth, he showed that lung injury can translocate bacterial products from the alveolus to the bloodstream, particularly during high stretch mechanical ventilation, and he proved that soluble mediators generated in the lung can cause or worsen injury. This constituted a key contribution to understanding the mechanism by which injury to the lung can lead to injury to other organs – the ‘biotrauma’ hypothesis. Fifth, using advanced imaging approaches, Brian’s group has demonstrated that, with positive pressure ventilation, injury is predominantly in the aerated lung with sparing of the more collapsed dorsal regions, contrary to what was previously thought. He has also demonstrated that the infant lung may be less susceptible to injury than the adult lung.
In all, Brian has co-authored nearly 200 peer-reviewed research papers, many in the highest impact journals such as NEJM, Lancet, BMJ, as well as in our top specialty journals. His laboratory is extremely successful in attracting peer-reviewed funding from grant agencies such as the Canadian Instituted for Health Research. Brian’s contribution to research extends well beyond the important discoveries from his own laboratory. He has mentored a generation of fellows, many of whom have gone on to academic and clinical leadership roles in countries from Canada to Ireland to Japan and others. He is a key opinion former in Critical Care Medicine and in Anaesthesia. He has delivered over 175 talks at major international conferences across more than 30 countries worldwide, and been visiting professor and many major academic departments. He is highly regarded as a speaker, for the honesty and scientific rigour of his contributions, delivering many keynote and plenary lectures. He is never afraid to ask the hard questions, and to challenge the prevailing consensus, when that consensus needs to be challenged.
Brian has received substantial international recognition for his accomplishments and contributions as a clinician-scientist in Intensive Care Medicine. One of the first of these was his honorary conferring with the Fellowship of the College of Anaesthetists of Ireland in 2004. Many other honours have followed in the years since. Brian was elected a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences in May 2012, an uncommon achievement in our field. He is the chair of Critical Care Canada Forum, which hosts what is probably the best critical care conference annually. He is an Editor for Anesthesiology and an Associate Editor for Critical Care. All these achievements might leave one thinking that Brian is ‘all work and no play’. This is far from the truth. Brian is a highly accomplished Uileann Pipe player, and often brings them with him when he travels so that he can participate in a session at a local Irish pub. He is a devoted father to 2 twenty-something year old daughters. He is an avid reader, and something of a gym fanatic, generally in the gym before 6am in the mornings.
This honorary conferring rightly recognizes the substantial contribution Brian has made to Intensive care medicine internationally. It also recognizes his contribution to intensive care medicine in Ireland. This contribution is all the more remarkable given that he has never trained or worked in an Irish ICU. What Brian has done, and continues to do, is provide mentorship and guidance to a large number of Irish-based physicians within clinical and academic Intensive care medicine. He is extremely generous with his time, he provides insightful and sound advice, and his door has always been open to Irish trainees during their time in Toronto. For that, I and many of my colleagues are extremely grateful to you Brian. In closing, I am greatly honored to deliver this citation for Brian Kavanagh on behalf of the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland. I have been extremely fortunate to have known Brian as a teacher, a mentor, a colleague and a really good friend for the last 20 years. I can think of no more deserving and worthy a recipient of the honorary Fellowship of the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland. Congratulations Brian!
Update from JFICMI Board meeting 4 Sept 2018
New Dean and officers of JFICMI
Congratulations to Dr John Bates on being elected unanimously as Dean, the term of office being three years. Congratulations also to Drs Michael Scully (elected as Vice Dean), Alan Gaffney (elected as Treasurer) and Donal Ryan (elected as Hon Secretary). There was much thanks and appreciation expressed to the outgoing Dean, Dr Jeanne Moriarty for her relentless and successful work during a difficult time of transition for the Joint Faculty.
Opening of Specialist register
It was reported that the practical issues and difficulties relating to opening the specialist register for ICM were addressed in detail with the Medical Council and a mechanism, for which there is precedent, has been formulated. The JFICMI have been invited to propose three members to facilitate the process and Drs Michael Scully, chair of JFICMI credentials committee and Brian Marsh and Dermot Phelan were agreed. Their work will be for completion within a specific time frame and will involve the facilitation of current consultants / trainers in ICM in joining the specialist register. The JFICMI agreed to forego its portion of the specified (level 5) administration fee during this period.
Upcoming meetings
The AGM for 2018 will be held on December 6th. Updates to the Memorandum and Articles of Association are anticipated to require approval following the recent change in Governance arrangement whereby the JFICMI has become a Faculty of the CAI. There is preliminary agreement with the ICSI to join with the College of Anaesthesiologists ASM for 2019 and to run a parallel Critical Care programme.
Website
A substantial update of the website is being undertaken and was approved by the Board. Its purpose is to achieve easier logbook and competence recording for trainees and supervisors of training, ready and correct categorisation of all members (Consultants, Trainees and Fellows) and to improve the billing and financial management facility.
Manpower planning
Dr Brian March presented his work on updating the previous manpower report. In collaboration with the HSE’s National Critical Care Programme(NCCP), it is envisaged that its outcome will inform the approval of training post availability. In summary, there is now a national shortage of 37.6 Whole Time Equivalent(WTE) consultant positions in ICM and a need for a further ten positions is envisaged in the next ten years.
ANZ link:
The Joint Faculty noted with approval the College of Intensive Care Medicine (CICM – ANZ) recognition ceremony, at its Annual Congress in Hobart during the summer, of the development of ICM in Ireland in the last number of years. It was noted that the pattern of evolution in Ireland had in many instances tracked similar developments and advances in ANZ and the ongoing recognition of several Irish training centres by the CICM was noted and welcomed. A further item on this will be posted on the website.
JFICMI New Year Update & Greetings
The JFICMI wishes all its members (Fellows and Trainees) a great and successful New Year in 2019. The year is expected to be active and busy for Intensive Care medicine in Ireland and the Board hopes that there will be much opportunity for fruitful interaction between it and its members during the year.
Most of the immediate business for the JFICMI for early 2019 stems from its AGM and Board Meetings of Dec 6th, 2018.
Arising from AGM:
Training programme: Now recognised by the Medical Council of Ireland and is to officially commence in July 2019. Applications from eligible doctors (established trainees of the CAI, RCPI, RCSI / Emergency Medicine) are invited. See website Training document for description of the programme and full eligibility criteria.
Opening of Specialist register: It is anticipated that the Supervisors of Training and other Trainers will (at a minimum) be specialty registered by the time the Training programme commences in July. A system is being put in place (involving three nominees of the JFICMI) to facilitate the above and also the specialty registration of any consultants who apply, especially those involved in Training or Examining activities. Those who completed supra-specialty training (two years) in Ireland between 2014 and 2018 are also eligible to apply. The JFICMI has decided to forego its assessment fee for a limited period to allow the specialist register to be opened. Therefore, a reduced application fee will be operable for Fellows who are in good standing with the JFICMI, for that period.
JFICMI Governance: The JFICMI’s memorandum and articles of association (MaAA) is being revised to clarify that the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine of Ireland will continue to act on behalf of its members and its constituent bodies (CAI, RCPI, RCSI and ICSI) but will also now become a Faculty of the CAI, which Training Body will undertake final legal and financial responsibility for the JFICMI. The updated MaAA is being finalised pending incl legal and lay opinion and will be tabled for approval at the 2019 AGM at the time of the Annual Scientific meeting(ASM) with the ICSI.
Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) with the ICSI: An exciting programme for the meeting is at an advanced stage and, this year, the occasion and venue will be further shared with the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland (CAI) at its ASM in Croke Park on May 9th and 10th. Laurent Brochard is one of the speakers and the proposal that he be awarded an honorary fellowship of the Joint Faculty was unanimously agreed.
Arising from Board meeting: Issues, other than those outlined above, which were addressed:
Website and invoicing: The recent website update is being put into effect. It provides an improved, non-cluttered view of the Trainee / Trainer pages (Logbook, Competency recording) and it also has grouped the members into three broad categories – Consultants, Trainees and Fellows and some related administrative sub-categories. Member invoicing can now be done via the website for the first time. However, the invoicing has been delayed as a result of this updating process and many invoices have only just been sent out in December / January. The JFICMI apologises for this late invoicing and hopes that it has not caused excess inconvenience to its members. This will not occur again as, from 2019 onwards, the process is set up to occur at a regular, consistent time.
Training and wellness survey: The presentation of this survey by CAT (Committee of Anaesthesia Trainees) representative, Dr Edgeworth, was welcomed. A concerning issue was the apparent loss of interest among CAT trainees in ICM over time, during their base specialty training. This appeared to be multifactorial but adverse training experiences of ICM appeared to be a definite contributor. The issue will taken up at the JFICMI’s Training Committee and also with the CAI Training committee, where the JFICMI Chairman of Training attends.
Also noted that since Dr Sinead Egan completed her term as JFICMI trainee representative that this position has been vacant. The Dean instructed that this election be effected asap.
Standards for Paediatric ICUs: A standards document for Paediatric ICUs, to complement the JFICMI’s standards document for ICUs, was presented by Dr Cathy Mc Mahon, the Board member for Paediatric affairs. The document was approved and will be posted on the Faculty’s website.
Ad Eundem Fellowship: Other than the conditions applying to the pre-2009 consultant cohort, this process allows the awarding of Ad Eundem Fellowship to an applicant doctor who is deemed to have attained an examination and / or one-year of a supra-specialty training programme which is comparable to those who have attained Fellowship by examination and training in the Irish (JFICMI) system.
As this is a very separate process from applying for specialist registration on the basis of ‘CSCST equivalent’ (two-year) supra-specialty training, the Board decided to clarify and update its Ad Eundem criteria by creating a new Ad Eundem document for the JFICMI Credentials Committee and it will remove the Ad Eundem detail from the MaAA.