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Useful guides & standards

Useful guides, standards, practical tools and resources available to assist Fellows in everyday practice.

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Acceptable Conduct of Courses and Events

RACS is committed to fostering a respectful and safe environment for all College courses and events.  Acceptable Conduct of Courses and Events (PDF 103.11KB)  provides guidance to promote professional behaviour and socially, culturally and ethically responsible conduct. 

Approved Continuing Medical Education (CME) activities

Access the list of educational activities that are approved in the College's Continuing Professional Development (CPD) Program and are awarded credit points.

Cancer Learning

Cancer Learning is an online professional development website designed specifically for health care professionals, including surgeons working in cancer care. It was developed by Cancer Australia in association with leading Australian professional bodies and cancer organisations.

Clinical Care Standards

Clinical handover

  • Clinical Handover Guide - Safe Handover: Safe Patients - Australian Medical Association (AMA)

College Insurance

The Insurance and Claims Manual has been compiled by Aon Risk Services which provides a broad outline of the College's Insurance Program and offers general information and assistance in understanding the various insurances that have been arranged for the College (members only; login required).

Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) has developed a number of resources to support the implementation of the Colonoscopy Clinical Care Standard. These include fact sheets, templates and information for clinicians. Below is a list and some links to these resources:

FRACS Corporate Identity

RACS has introduced corporate identity guidelines, including a logo and stationery templates specifically for the use of Fellows of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (FRACS). These guidelines provide information about FRACS corporate identity and the use of logos and templates as a Fellow.

For further information please refer to FRACS corporate identity (members only; login required).

Informed consent

Refer to the Patient Information and Resources page for further information.

Infection control

The College has developed a position paper on infection control: Prevention of Healthcare and Associated Infection in Surgery (PDF 44.53KB).

Other resources include:

Loans for travelling Fellows

Read information about loans for travelling Fellows.

Mesh for stress urinary incontinence - exceptions process (AoNZ)

To be considered for an exception to the pause in the use of mesh for stress urinary incontinence, cases need to be considered by a specifically constituted multidisciplinary meeting.

Learn more about the process, exemption criteria, and how to refer a case.

Pain medicine

A Fellowship of Pain Medicine is available to Fellows of the College to build on existing surgical qualifications. RACS is a parent body of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) Faculty of Pain Medicine.

The establishment of the Faculty of Pain Medicine, incorporating true multidisciplinary representation from medical specialties, is an important and innovative advance in dealing with the management of acute, chronic non-malignant and cancer pain, which collectively remains as one of society's major problems.

Fellows of the faculty will be expected to have a wide knowledge of the clinical, biopsychosocial and humanitarian perspectives of all aspects of pain and should be well placed within the next millennium to follow what will most certainly be a developing and challenging career path.

For more information, access the Faculty of Pain Medicine website.

Patient education pamphlets

Patient education pamphlets have been developed in a range of surgical specialties in conjunction with Mi-tec Medical Publishing and EIDO Healthcare Australia. For further information consult the Patient Education Pamphlets page.

Sedation guidelines

The College has approved the revised Guidelines on Sedation and/or Analgesia for Diagnostic and Interventional Medical or Surgical Procedures produced by The Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA).

This document is intended to apply wherever procedural sedation and/or analgesia for diagnostic and interventional medical and surgical procedures are administered, especially where sedation and/or analgesia may lead to general anaesthesia. ANZCA recognises that practitioners with diverse qualifications and training are administering a variety of medications to patients to allow such procedures to be performed. This document addresses pertinent issues for all practitioners involved in such activities.

The guidelines are available on the ANZCA website.

Social media policy

The RACS social media policy outlines the principles of our involvement and management of social media.

The policy aims to help RACS staff, Fellows, Trainees and International Medical Graduates (IMGs) understand the purpose and impact of the use of social media on the RACS brand and reputation. 

 Read the RACS social media policy (PDF 83.51KB)

Social media and the medical profession: A guide to online professionalism for medical practitioners and medical students

Although doctors and medical students are increasingly participating in online social media, evidence is emerging from studies, legal cases and media reports that the use of these media can pose risks for medical professionals. Inappropriate online behaviour can potentially damage personal integrity, doctor-patient and doctor-colleague relationships, and future employment opportunities. Our perceptions and regulations regarding professional behaviour must evolve to encompass these new forms of media.

A joint initiative of the Australian Medical Association (AMA) Council of Doctors-in-Training, New Zealand Medical Association Doctors-in-Training Council, New Zealand Medical Students' Association and Australian Medical Students' Association has developed a guide to assist doctors and medical students to continue to enjoy the online world, while maintaining professional standards.

Surgeons wellbeing

RACS encourages all surgeons to recognise and discuss the challenges facing them and to ensure that self care is part of managing professional life. View a list with sources of support on the Surgeons wellbeing page.

Surgical Safety Checklist

To improve surgical safety worldwide, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released a safety checklist for surgical teams to use in operating rooms. The checklist identifies three phases of an operation, each corresponding to a specific period in the normal flow of work. In each phase, the checklist helps teams confirm that the critical safety steps are completed before it proceeds with the operation.

The College has approved a revised Australia and New Zealand edition of the Surgical Safety Checklist. This edition has been developed following consultation with specialty societies/associations and other key stakeholders, including:

  • Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA)
  • Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RANZCOG)
  • Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Ophthalmologists (RANZCO)
  • Australian College of Operating Room Nurses (ACORN)

The expanded Surgical Safety Checklist and implementation manual are part of a Safe Surgery Saves Lives initiative supported by the College:

The College is consulting with Specialty Societies and Associations to ensure that the checklist is relevant to all groups. Following this consultation process, protocols will be developed to support the implementation of the checklist in all Australian and New Zealand hospitals.

For more information, visit the WHO website.

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) guidelines

Fellows are encouraged to have an appropriate plan for the prevention and treatment of venous thromboembolism (VTE). 

The fourth edition guidelines and poster have been produced by the Australia and New Zealand Working Party on the Management and Prevention of Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) to assist in the identification and management of patients at risk of developing venous thromboembolism:

Contact

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
250-290 Spring Street
East Melbourne VIC 3002 Australia

Telephone: +61 3 9249 1220
Fax: +61 3 9249 1219
Email: [email protected]