Medical expertise | Best Practice, Better Practitioners

Other Core Competencies:

To acquire, integrate and apply medical knowledge, clinical skills and professional attitudes in the provision of patient care through:

demonstrating medical skills and expertise
monitoring and evaluating care
managing safety and risk.

Select the PGY (1–3) tabs below to view the progression of the expected skills, knowledge and behaviours across the early postgraduate years

What are key clinical tasks?

The related key clinical tasks (KCT) have been designed to help you apply the Framework to your job. You can use these to obtain feedback on, and/or assessment of, your level of performance.

Select the check box next to a KCT for guidance on developing your medical skills, expertise and knowledge for this task

Select the KCT title to see the complete task, related competencies and downloadable assessment form

Practise hand hygiene, noting standard precautions, transmission-based precautions, personal protective equipment and aseptic technique

Medical expertise

hand hygiene
handover
venous thromboembolism prophylaxis

Follow stages of a verification process and comply with the organisation’s procedures to ensure correct identification of a patient

Undertake a comprehensive and focussed history, eliciting symptoms and signs relevant to the presenting problem or condition. Note medication history, including medicine allergies and previous adverse drug reactions

Identify and provide relevant and succinct information when ordering investigations. Ensure tests and results are documented

Know and work within hospital, state and government policies and legislation relating to prescribing. Make use of guidelines and standard documents, e.g. National Inpatient Medication Chart

Medical expertise

Accurately and safely prescribe (common) medications and recognise (potential) administration errors
Know the types, causes and risks of medication errors and adverse drug reactions
Use standard reporting mechanisms to report medication errors and adverse drug reactions

Understand the key features of antibiotic prophylaxis and appropriate therapeutic use, noting local protocols and the Therapeutic Guidelines (Antibiotics)

Recognise and effectively assess acutely ill, deteriorating and dying patients

Perform basic emergency and life support procedures while continuing full assessment of the patient to include:

Medical expertise

Apply principles of triage and medical prioritisation
Identify patients requiring immediate resuscitation and when to call for help, e.g. Code Blue, MET calls
Implement basic airway management, ventilatory and circulatory support
Identify indications for advanced airway management
Participate in decision making, and debriefing, about cessation of resuscitation

Recognise common symptoms and signs

Medical expertise

See extracts from Australian Curriculum Framework for Junior Doctors (ACJD) and New Zealand Curriculum Framework for Prevocational training (NZCF)

Manage common conditions

Medical expertise

See extracts from Australian Curriculum Framework for Junior Doctors (ACJD) and New Zealand Curriculum Framework for Prevocational training (NZCF)

Seek help when unsure

Present common cases effectively to senior medical staff and other health professionals

Perform a comprehensive examination of all systems

Identify common risks in older and complex patients, e.g. falls risk and cognitive decline. Take appropriate actions to prevent or minimise harm

Follow-up and interpret investigation results appropriately to guide patient management

Work within unit-based protocols with regard to pre-operative assessment and care, operative procedures and post-operative care:

Medical expertise

apply medical knowledge to clinical practice
implement and evaluate a management plan relevant to the patient following discussion with a senior clinician
identify when patient transfer is required, and manage risks prior to and during patient transfer
recognise indications for, and risks of, fluid and electrolyte therapy and blood products
provide appropriate aftercare and arrange follow up for common procedures
safely manage anti-coagulant therapy and manage diabetes
recognise acute cardiac events and use relevant resuscitation/drug protocols
initiate resuscitation of the unwell patient. Recognise indicators for sepsis and implement clinically relevant plan
maintain a clinically relevant patient management plan of fluid, electrolyte and blood product use
recognise and manage fluid and electrolyte imbalances in a patient
effectively use semi-automatic and automatic defibrillators
provide appropriate aftercare and arrange follow up for more complex procedures
recognise when patients are ready for discharge and arrange referral to relevant members of the healthcare team to promote planning for safe discharge

Safely prescribe use of antimicrobials and be aware of the influence of the pharmaceutical industry. Clearly understand proper surgical prophylaxis and distinguish this from therapeutic use of antibiotics for bacterial infections

Specify peri-operative management of anticoagulants and antiplatelet agents and recognise prescription and/or administration errors

Identify common risks in older and complex patients, e.g. falls risk and cognitive decline

Recognise when a patient is dying and implement an appropriate care plan

Follow-up and interpret investigation results appropriately to guide patient management

Prescribe pain therapies to match the patient’s analgesia requirements. Be empathic when managing pain and review outcomes when prescribing

Identify medical errors or adverse events and implement the appropriate clinical protocols to manage them

Understand recommendations for user-applied labelling of injectable medicines, fluids and lines

Deal with common (presenting) symptoms and signs and common conditions. See extracts from:

Medical expertise

Present complex cases effectively to senior medical staff and other health professionals

Can supervise/advise and understands medicines with high risk of adverse events. Double check and document dose calculations

Understand the actions and interactions, indications, monitoring requirements, contraindications and potential adverse effects of each medication used

Evaluate outcomes of medication therapy. Monitor and review the patient’s response to treatment

Medical expertise

aligned to NPS MedicineWise

Be aware of risks associated with common conditions and procedures and implement steps to predict or mitigate them

Provide appropriate aftercare and arrange follow-up for all procedures

Identify patients suitable for, and refer to, aged care, rehabilitation or palliative care programs

Apply the criteria for referral or consultation relevant to a particular problem or condition

Have ongoing awareness of gaps in own knowledge and address these

Audit own and team performance in relation to patient progress and outcome

Review and update unit protocols manual regarding pre-operative assessment and care, operative procedures and post-operative care