You are invited to attend a one day workshop on Friday 10 December on how to deliver Shared Medical Appointments (SMAs).
Traditionally, medical consultations have been
carried out in a 1:1 situation; an ‘expert’ (doctor) consulting with one
patient. This has served us well, and still does with injuries and infectious
diseases. But the rise in chronic diseases with the modernisation of society
has dramatically altered the clinical landscape.
Also known as ‘Group Visits’ or ‘Group Medical
Appointments’ in the US, an SMA is, “A series of consecutive individual medical
consultations in a supportive group setting where all can listen, interact, and
learn.” As such an SMA is a both an individual consultation and a group
education session.
The minimal ‘team’ for an SMA is a doctor and
a trained facilitator. In an SMA, the doctor carries out his/her doctoring, but
with other patients watching. The facilitator introduces the group,
writes records and questions on a board, assists the doctor with information,
controls the group dynamics, and in some cases writes the medical records.
If we can generate sufficient interest, the workshop will be hosted at MCHRI (at the Monash Health Translation Precint) and conducted in collaboration with the Australian Society of Lifestyle Medicine (ASLM).
Doctors, allied health practitioners, ancillary staff and researchers interested in new models of patient care will benefit from attending. 40 Category 1 points will be available for GPs and allied health CPD points should be available to most other practitioners.
The workshop price is expected to be $440 (inc gst) and includes one year of follow up which is especially relevant for those wishing to be registered as trained in the ASLM SMA protocol.
