Coffee Break Conversations with Surgical Supervisors

This series of podcasts has been developed to support Surgical Supervisors and Trainers with their important role of educating and training new surgeons. Each episode of the podcast will include conversations with experienced RACS Surgical Supervisors and Medical Educators sharing tips and strategies to address common and curly challenges of surgical supervision.

Episode 3: Judgement and clinical decision making with Dr Rebecca Garland

Rebecca is an Otolaryngologist based in Wellington New Zealand. She is experienced in surgical education and supervision. She was a supervisor of training for nine years and the Chair of Otolaryngology for New Zealand for 4 years. During this time she became involved in curriculum writing and development. The skills, experience and interest in teaching and assessment prepared Rebecca well to take on the role as Chair of the RACS Professional Skills Curriculum Working Party. During this work she developed a particular interest in today’s topic of Judgement of clinical decision-making.

In this podcast Rebecca provided her insights in response to the following questions:

    What is competence in the area of judgment and clinical decision-making?
    What do patients and the community expect from surgeons with regard to judgement and decision-making?
    Can critical thinking frameworks be helpful?
    When might it be challenging to apply the principles of good judgment and clinical decision making?
    How to assess whether a trainee or SIMG is competent in judgment and decision making?
    How to support trainees and SIMGs develop their skills in this area especially if they are struggling?




Episode 2 Part 1: Health Advocacy of Surgeons

In Episode 2 Part 1, Catherine Hunt from RACS discusses Health Advocacy with Dr Neill Boustred, who is an Australian-based Ear Nose and Throat Surgeon. Dr Boustred holds positions at Concord Hospital and Macquarie University Hospital, is a senior lecturer at Sydney and Macquarie Universities, and is the immediate past Chair of the board of Otolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery for Australia and New Zealand.

In their discussion, they explore how Surgical Supervisors can teach and assess competence in Health Advocacy, as well as how Surgeons advocate for the benefit healthcare recipients.



Episode 2 Part 2: Health Advocacy for Surgeons

This episode on is the second of a two-part episode on Health Advocacy.

Part 1, with Dr Neill Boustred, focussed on Health Advocacy of the Surgeon – assessing and teaching trainee and Specialist International Medical Graduate (SIMG) surgeons to advocate for the benefit of the recipients of healthcare.

In this second part, Health Advocacy for the Surgeon – the focus is on assessing and teaching trainees and SIMGs to advocate for the wellbeing of the surgical workforce.

Catherine Hunt discusses promoting and supporting the health and wellbeing of Surgeons, Trainees and SIMGs with RACS Council Member, Ruth Bollard, advocate for the health and wellbeing of Surgeons.




Episode 1: What makes a great Surgical Supervisor?

RACS Medical Educator Catherine Hunt talks with Ms Debbie Paltridge, RACS Head of Education Services (Principal Educator) at RACS and Associate Professor Sarah Aitken, Vascular Surgeon, Head of the Specialty of Surgery at University of Sydney, Deputy Chair of RACS Vascular Training Board and recipient of RACS NSW Supervisor of the year for 2022.



RACS would greatly appreciate your feedback on this podcast. You can provide feedback on each episode here.

Join our podcast as a guest

If you are an experienced Supervisor and would like to participate in a Coffee Break Conversation and share your tips and strategies for teaching and assessing Trainees, please reach out to the Department of Professional Development at [email protected]