29 November A HMIP Intern's perspective of the 2017 ACHSM/ACHS Asia-Pacific Congress November 29, 2017 By Tais Lildaree General 0 Author: Simon Chong Date: 29 Nov 2017 The Health Management Internship Program (HMIP) gives the opportunity for individuals to develop skills, competencies and knowledge to start a career in the health management industry. The Victorian program consists of four lots of six-month placements designed to provide a breath of knowledge and experience across the health sector. Victorian interns come from a variety of backgrounds; from clinical to health promotion project officers to interns with corporate finance backgrounds. Diversity in the program encourages robust dialogue between interns which broadens their perspectives on health management and its intersection with finance, policies and other industries. The ACHSM congress, held in Sydney from the 27th to the 29th of September, was a fantastic opportunity to meet and network with like-minded individuals in a pursuit of the vision of better health service provision. To build upon management industry experience, interns are invited to attend the annual ACHSM congress to gain exposure to different perspectives of leaders in the field. The conference organisers had set a ‘nautical’ theme, illustrating the idea of understanding the current climate of healthcare and preparing for the future through ‘charting a course’ to better waters. I was delighted to hear from prominent experts in and around the health sector on the topics including policy, health data management, journalism and economics. One of the highlights was being able to hear from Lesley Dwyer – CEO of the Medway Maritime NHS Foundation Trust and her experiences on turning around a health service in dire need and building an organisational culture of safety and quality. Quality is a topic that is extremely relevant in the current health climate, highlighted by the current Government safety and quality agenda and echoed in the ‘Targeting Zero report’. The challenge for the health sector is to improve the provision of care through meaningful usage of health data and improvements to clinical governance systems. On the first morning of the congress, the organisers held a private HMIP-only networking session on the usage of social media and health promotion. Matthew Nott, Director of Corporate Communications, Western Sydney Local Health District, highlighted significant health promotion programs to improve health-literacy and encourage behaviour change to combat significant health issues such as skin cancer through sun exposure. Dr Darren Saunders, Senior Lecturer in Medicine at the University of New South Wales highlighted the opportunity of using social media as a platform to increase the prominence of scientific viewpoints within the community. It was interesting to hear evidence to the fact that all age demographics are increasingly adopting social media channels for news consumption. Social media channels are not merely used by millennials but will likely become the main platform for information distribution to the public. The evolving trends in news consumption call for a rethinking by health services on their use of social media platforms and other emerging communication channels to communicate on a continually relevant level. We were challenged, as future leaders, to think of new ways to better engage the public on health issues through new media channels. I was inspired to become a part of a stronger voice of health information in the cacophony of health misinformation and trending health advice. As future leaders in the health sector, it is a responsibility to be able to speak evidence to speculation, truth to stupidity and compassion to hysteria. It is the hope that integrating science through social media in ways that are relevant to all audiences will better inform public dialogue and address public concerns for health issues. About the Author Simon is a 1st year Management Intern currently placed at East Grampians Health Service in Victoria. He holds a Bachelor of Physiotherapy and has previously worked in large private healthcare organisations. He has a passion for empowering patients to make better health decisions and driving evidence based change programs. Related Posts Standout Sessions from the 2017 ACHSM/ACHS Asia-Pacific Congress Simon Hogan, a second year HMIP intern in Victoria looks back at the presentations delivered by two standout sessions at our 2017 Asia-Pacific Congress in Sydney. An intern’s guide to the ACHSM national congress (By Annie Makar) In September 2022, the Victorian Health Management Interns embarked on a journey to the west for the first face-to-face ACHSM Asia-Pacific health leadership congress in three years. The ACHSM congress is the premier event in the region to bring together leaders in health service delivery. Introducing the Vic 1st Year HMIP Interns An introduction to the 2016 1st year Victorian health management interns Reflections on the end of my HMIP journey (Yang Su) Yang Su reflects on the end of his HMIP journey Victoria HMIP Graduation 2018 Celebrating the graduation of the HMIP Interns who met the requirements of the program at the end of 2017 Quality improvement: an international perspective Lachlan Crowe, a first year HMIP intern, delves into a discussion on quality improvement, focussing on a comparison between the UK and Victoria. Comments are closed.