PRS Interview Flashcards
What is medical tourism?
Medical tourism refers to the practice of travelling to another country or region to receive medical care, often at a lower cost and greater convenience that what is available in one’s home country.
Conclusion: Overall, medical tourism can be a viable option for patients seeking specialized medical care, but it’s essential to carefully weigh the risks and benefits and take necessary precautions to ensure a safe and successful experience.
What are the reasons for medical tourism?
- Cost saving
- Accessibility
- Convenience
- Quality
- Combining treatment with leisure
What are the risks of medical tourism?
- Quality of care and facilities
- Communication barriers
- Insurance and liability
- Follow-up care
- Regulatory issues
How will AI be used in PRS?
AI is having a growing impact in the field of PRS, enhancing both patient outcomes and increasing efficiency. Some key ways that AI is being used in PRS include:
- Pre-operative planning and simulation
- Personalised treatment plans
- Robotic-assisted surgery
- Post-operative monitoring
- Research, education and training
How will AI impact PRS in Australia
The impact of AI on plastic surgery in Australia is expected to be significant and multifaceted. It will have both positive and negative effects:
Positive
1. Enhance precision
2. Improved outcomes
3. Increased effieciency
4. Personalised medicine
5. Virtual consultations
Negative:
1. Job displacement
2. Dependence on technology
3. Regulatory challenges
4. Access and equaility
In conclusion, AI will have both positive and negative impacts on plastic surgery in Australia. While it may bring significant benefits, such as enhanced precision and improved outcomes, it also raises concerns about job displacement, regulatory frameworks, and access to care. As the field continues to evolve, it is essential to address these challenges and ensure that AI is used in a safe, effective, and equitable manner.
What are the problems with AI in PRS?
While AI offers a lot of potential in plastic surgery, there are some challenges and limitations that need to be addressed:
- Lack of human touch and judgement
- Data quality and bias
- Ethical and privacy concerns
- Regulaion and standardisation
- Over-reliance on technology
- Cost and accessibility
While AI has the potential to revolutionize plastic surgery, these challenges highlight the importance of maintaining a careful balance between technological advancement and human expertise in the field.
What are the impacts of robotic surgery on PRS?
Robotics in plastic surgery is an emerging field that leverages advanced technology to enhance surgical procedures, improve outcomes, and optimise the patient experience. Key aspects and benefits of incorporating robotics into plastic surgery include:
- Improved precision and control
- Use of minimally invasive techniques
- Enhanced visualisation
- Improved standardisation
- Reduced blood loss and complications
How can robotics improve microsurgery?
Robotics in plastic surgery is an evolving field with great potential. Some key benefits of incorpating robotics into microsurgery include:
- Improved ergonomics and reduced fatigue
- Tremor reduction and motion-scaling
- Improved dexterity and maneuverability within confined spaces
- Repair of minute structures (eg. bloods vessels <1mm diameter)
- Improved visualisation (eg. intra-oral use)
What are the current limitations of robotics in plastic surgery?
Despite it’s great potential, there are still several limitations for the use of robotics in plastic surgery:
- Lack of adequate microsurgical instrumentation
- Prolonged set-up and operative time
- Limited access to both robot and training
- Cost (purchase, use and maintenance)
- Absence of haptic feedback
- Increased space requirements
What is the difference between leadership and management?
Leadership and management are two distinct yet complimentary functions within and organisation.
Leadership = Leadership is the ability to influence, guide, and inspire individuals or groups toward achieving common goals. It involves a combination of personal qualities, skills, and behaviors that motivate others to contribute their best efforts.
Management = Management is the process of planning, organizing, leading, and controlling the resources of an organization to achieve specific goals and objectives efficiently and effectively. It encompasses a range of activities and functions that facilitate the coordination of people, tasks, and resources to fulfill the organization’s mission.
They differ in key aspects:
- Focus
L: Inspiring and motivating. Create + guide towards vision.
M: Organising, planning, co-ordinating resources - Approach
L: Transformational qualities, encourage innovation
M: Transactional qualities, emphasises order, control, consistency - Goals
L: Establish and communicate a vision, influence culture, and develop followers
M: Emphasizes efficiency, productivity, and the achievement of specific business objectives - Decision-making
L: Democratic approach, considering input from others and promoting participation
M: Directive approach, making decisions based on established procedures and policies - Skills and qualities
L: Requires strong interpersonal skills, emotional intelligence, adaptability, and the ability to inspire.
M: Requires skills in organization, analysis, delegation, and problem-solving.
In summary, while leaders are often viewed as visionaries who inspire and influence, managers tend to be seen as organizers and coordinators who ensure tasks are completed efficiently. Both roles are essential for the success of an organization, but they approach their responsibilities from different angles.
What is leadership?
Leadership is the ability to influence, guide, and inspire individuals or groups toward achieving common goals. It involves a combination of personal qualities, skills, and behaviors that motivate others to contribute their best efforts.
What are your weaknesses?
My weaknesses have been time management, task delegation and perfectionism.
- Time management
Early in my training I struggled with time management, often finding it difficult to balance various responsibilities between clinical duties and study. This led to a lot of stress and work/life imbalance.
Overcoming it – To address this, I began using planning tools such as calendars and task managers to prioritise my responsibilities. I also set specific goals for each week to ensure that I stayed on track. This change greatly improved my efficiency and productivity, even allowing me to complete a Master of Surgery degree while working full time. - Task delegation
Early in my time as a registrar I was hesitant to delegate tasks to others as I felt that I needed to deal with everything myself to stay in control.
Overcoming it – Over time, I learned that effective teamwork is essential in surgery, so I worked on trusting my colleagues by starting to gradually delegate more tasks to them, and it created a supportive and efficient work environment. This has not only improved workflow but also enriched our team dynamic. - Perfectionism
A tendency towards perfectionism initially slowed down my work as I would often double-check my decisions and actions too many times.
Overcoming it – As I’ve become more experienced, I’ve learned to balance the desire for high standards with the necessity of timely decision making. By setting specific criteria for when to finalise tasks, I’ve improved my efficiency while still maintaining quality.
These weaknesses did affect my efficiency and productivity early on in my time as a registrar, but as I became aware of how these issues were impacting on my work, I was able to effectively work on them to benefit both myself and my patients.
How do you ensure that you work in a team to achieve outcomes?
To ensure good, effective teamwork in order to achieve my team’s objectives, I focus on 6 key aspects:
- Clear communication
- Defines roles and responsibilities
- Set common goals
- Encourage collaboration
- Embrace diversity
- Encourage continuous improvement
What are the risks to the plastic surgery profession?
The risks to the plastic surgery profession, particularly in countries like Australia, centre around the potential for loss of public trust due to issues related to safety, ethics, and regulation. There are several factors that pose a threat to this:
- Unqualitifed practitioners and “Cowboy surgeons”
- Inconsistent regulation and oversight
- The influence of social media and beauty standards
- Mental health issues
- Ethical concerns around informed consent
Addressing these risks requires a focus on continuing education for surgeons, stronger regulatory frameworks, and a culture of prioritizing patient safety and mental health in the profession. If these issues are not managed effectively, they could undermine the reputation and trust in the plastic surgery field.
How do you communicate to maintain teamwork?
As a medical doctor, effective communication is crucial for maintaining teamwork within a healthcare setting. Strategies that I utilise to facilitate this include:
- Clear and concise communication
- Active listening
- Regular team meetings
- Interdisciplinary collaboration
- Feedback mechanisms
- Clarity in roles and responsibilities
By employing these communication strategies, I have found that I can help cultivate an environment of teamwork that enhances collaboration and ultimately improves patient outcomes.
How do you maintain a good work/life balance?
Maintaining a good work/life balance is crucial for overall well-being and productivity. Strategies that I use to help achieve this balance include:
- Setting clear boundaries
- Prioritising tasks
- Use of time management techniques
- Maintaining self-care
- Maintenance of strong support network
- Regularly reflect and adjust
I have found that by implementing these strategies, I can create a more balanced approach to work and personal life, leading to greater satisfaction and reduced burnout.
How do you maintain your own clinical standards and performance?
Maintaining clinical standards and performance as a doctor is crucial for ensuring high-quality patient care and professional development. That stategies that I use to achieve this include:
- Self-assessment and reflection
- Continuous education, training and research
- Participate in quality improvement projects
- Supervision and mentorship
- Adherence to clinical guidelines
- Engage with professional organisations (eg. WASHS)
What are the issues/concerns surrounding gender reassignment/affirmation surgery in PRS?
In Australia, there are several concerns surrounding gender reassignment and affirmation surgery in plastic surgery. These include:
- Access and equality
- Waitlist and delays
- Lack of specialised services (including after-care)
- Lack of standardisation
- Informed consent and pre-operative assessment
- Mental health support
Many institutions are aiming to improve on these issues, such as the AHPRA Guidelines on Trans and Gender DIversity and the RACS Guidelines for the Management of Transgender Patients.
What does it mean to act professionally and ethically as a surgeon?
As a surgeon, acting professionally and ethically means upholding a high standard of behaviour that respects patients, colleagues, and the medical profession as a whole. Some key aspects include:
Professionalism
1. Maintaining patient confidentiality
2. Respecting patient autonomy
3. Providing accurate information
4. Maintaining expertise
5. Following hospital and institution policies
6. Communicating effectively
Ethics
1. Respecting non-maleficence
2. Beneficence
3. Autonomy
4. Justice
5. Accountability
By upholding these principles of professionalism and ethics, surgeons can maintain trust with patients, colleagues, and the medical profession, and provide the highest quality of care.
What are the concerns regarding plastic surgery training in Australia?
Concerns regarding plastic surgery training in Australian have been raised in various contexts, reflecting issues surrounding the adequacy of education, training, and the overall healthcare system. Some key conerns include:
- Quality and consistency of training
- Competence of trainees
- Workforce shortages
- Regulation and accreditation
- Ethical concerns
Addressing these concerns requires collaboration between medical boards, instititutions, and practititioners to ensure that training programs are robust, comprehensive, and focused on the highest standards of patient care.
What are the controversial areas of plastic surgery in Australia?
Plastic surgery in Australia, like in many other countries, faces a few key areas of controversy. Some of the most debated areas include:
- Cosmetic surgery vs medical necessity
- Regulation and oversight
- Psychological impact and body dysmorphia
- Accessibility and socioeconomic issues
- Ethical concerns around body image and gender
- Social media influence
Overall, plastic surgery in Australia is at the centre of ongoing conversation about person autonomy, societal standards, ethics, and mental health. Many of these issues are evolving as technology and social norms continue to change.
What is an audit/what is the audit cycle?
Audit is one of the pillars of clinical governance and is the process of comparing local practice to a gold standard established through evidence-based medicine.
The audit cycle comprises of:
1. Set or define standards
2. Collect data/measure current practice
3. Compare results against standards
4. Implement changes
5. Re-audit
What are the challenges of the audit process?
The audit process is crucial for ensuring compliance, enhancing quality of care, and improving patient outcomes. However, several challenges can complicate this process:
- Data accuracy and integrity
- Resource limitations
- Interdisciplinary coordination
- Resistance to change
- Training and education
What is the difference between competence and capacity?
Competence and capacity refer to distinct concepts related to a patient’s ability to make informed decision about their own care.
Competence
- Legal concept. Determined by a court.
- Global assessment. Overall ability tohandle finacial, personal and medical decisions.
- Static. Once deteremined incompetent, a person remians so until determined competent by a court.
Capacity
- Clinical concept. Assessed by healthcare providers and specific to medical decisions.
- Dynamic assessment. Can vary with time and the specific medical decision being made.
Context-specific. Assessment often made based on a particular context of medical treatment (eg. complexitiy and situation).
While competence is a broad and legally defined term that pertains to an individual’s ability to make decisions across various domains, capacity is a more nuanced and context-dependent assessment relevant specifically to medical decision-making.
What is clinical governance?
Clinical governance is a systematic appraoch to improving and maintaining the quality of patient care within the healthcare system.
What are the components of clinical governance?
Clinical governance encompasses a range of activities designed to ensure that healthcare providers safe, efficient, patient-centred and effective care. The core components typically include:
- Quality assurance
- Risk management
- Clinical audit
- Evidence-based practice
- Patient involvement
- Staff training, research and development
- Leadership and Accountability
- Performance measurement
By integrating these components, clinical governance aims to foster a culture of quality and safety in healthcare, driving improvements in patient care and outcomes while ensuring compliance with regulatory standards.
How do you think that the issues of cosmetic surgery affects you in plastic surgery?
Cosmetic surgery and plastic surgery are closely related fields, but they but they have distinct definitions and roles in Australia and elsewhere. Areas of plastic surgery in Australia that are impacts by cosmetic surgery include:
- Regulation and standards
- Training and qualifications
- Impact of reconstructive surgery
- Public perception and accessibility
Overall, cosmetic surgery influences plastic surgery in Australia by shaping training, regulatory frameworks, and public attitudes towards surgical procedures. Moving forward, it’s crucial for practitioners to balance the demands of cosmetic surgery with the foundations of patient safety and ethical practice in plastic surgery.
What is research?
Research refers to the systematic use of the scientific method to test hypotheses in order to either add to the body of knowledge or validate existing knowledge. It contributes to the understanding of a particular topic.
How is the delivery of plastic surgery different in the rural setting in Australia?
The delivery of plastic surgery in rural settings differs significantly from urban areas due to a number of factors, including:
- Access to specialists
- Resourse availability
- Funding and infrastructure
- Cultural and demographic factors
- Emergency cases
- Telehealth services
Overall, while the core principles of plastic surgery remain the same, the context in which it is delivery in rural Australia presents unique challenges and considerations that must be addressed to ensure effective patient care.
How can we improve the delivery of plastic surgery services to rural populations in Australia?
Improving the delivery of plastic surgery servies to rural areas in Australia is crucial to ensuring equitable access to healthcare. Strategies to help achieve this include:
- Telemedicine and virtual consultations
- Mobile surgical units
- Collaboration with local healthcare providers
- Community outreach and education
- Incentivising specialists to work in rural areas
- Increase funding for rural health incentives
By implementing a combination of these strategies, it is possible to enhance access and delivery of plastic surgery services to rural popluations in Australia, ultimately leading to better health outcomes and improved quality of life for residents in these areas.
