Specialist Geriatrician

**Reference Number**:2303

**Category**:Medical

**Department**:Continuing Care Medical

**_Are you a current Austin Health employee? _**
- **We are seeking a Specialist Geriatrician to work across a diverse range of services, including acute inpatient care, GEM inpatient beds, specialist clinics, and community admitted beds**:

- **The role involves supporting the Emergency Department, providing consultative services, and gaining experience in all aspects of Geriatric Medicine**:

- **Ideal for a new graduate looking to transition into consultative practice within a major tertiary health service**
- Austin Health is the major provider of tertiary health services, health professional education and research across three campuses in the Northeast of Melbourne and state-wide. We have a highly engaged, diverse and collaborative workforce that is unified by our goal to help people live healthy and fulfilled lives.

**About the Continuing Care Division**
- Continuing Care Inpatient Services include two Rehabilitation/Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM) wards (Wards 11 and 12), an Acute GEM unit (Ward 10), and an additional inpatient unit (Ward 9), which includes an 8-bed Cognitive Assessment and Management (CAM) Program and 16 GEM beds.
- Community Programs offered by the division include the Aged Care Assessment Service (ACAS), Transition Care Program, the integrated Health Independence Program (HIP, which includes Older Persons’ Complex Care/OPCC), Hospital in the Home (HITH), Residential InReach services (formerly Outreach/ROS), and the Medical and Cognitive Research Unit (MCRU). In addition, there are several complex care-focused specialist clinics at both HRH and Royal Talbot.

**About the role**
- The Specialist Geriatrician is responsible for working effectively and efficiently with the multidisciplinary team, and for ensuring the right patient receives the right care at the right time in the right environment, mindful of patient choice and efficient and clinically appropriate utilisation of health resources. As part of a multidisciplinary team you have shared responsibility for quality patient negotiated outcomes
- A regular day see you:

- Provide leave cover and manage the admission, care, and safe discharge of patients.
- Collaborate with medical, allied health, nursing, and other staff to deliver efficient, high-quality care.
- Maintain clear communication with patients, families, general practitioners, and community providers.
- Ensure thorough, legible, and timely documentation in patient records, including signed and dated entries.
- Actively engage in case discussions, discharge planning, and quality improvement activities.
- Participate in mandatory training, weekend/evening cover rosters, and foster teamwork and positive staff engagement.

**Core Scope of Clinical Practice**
- Procedures, therapies and competencies that a Fellow from the respective specialist medical college would be competent in practicing:

- Acute medical care of the older patient. The approach of the geriatrician will reduce the incidence of post-acute syndrome and functional decline associated with hospitalisation
- Management of geriatric syndromes - disorders characterised by the combination of age-related changes, accumulated pathology, polypharmacy, and acute illness reducing the threshold for the occurrence of falls, delirium, and incontinence
- Pharmacology and polypharmacy issues in the management of older people
- Acute and long-term management of neurodegenerative disorders and stroke in the older person
- Coordination and management of the rehabilitation of the older person who, as a result of an acute medical or surgical problem, has suffered a functional decline
- Specialist care for the older person with complex or multifactorial problems in the community setting
- Assessment of the care requirements for the older person who may require community or residential care
- This will be assumed if the Geriatrician has a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) through completion of Advanced Training under the auspices of the Australian Specialty Training Committee (STC) in Geriatric Medicine or the New Zealand Specialist Advisory Committee (SAC) in Geriatric Medicine and an ongoing continuous practice in this specialty._

**About you**
- You will be someone who has excellent communication skills and a strong commitment to excellence in patient care. You’ll bring energy and drive to you work, and have a keen interest in developing your skillset.
- You’ll further have:

- Registration as a Medical Practitioner in Australia with AHPRA.
- Current Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians or equivalent.
- Completed training and experience in Geriatric Medicine.
- Commitment to high-quality patient care and involvement in research or clinical audit.
- Experience in teaching and training medical, technical, and nursing staff at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.
- Ac