Annual Report 2014-2015 | Page 20

8 Build Practice Capacity and Capability “ANOTHER RESOUNDING SUCCESS! I CAN’T TELL YOU HOW MUCH OF A DIFFERENCE THIS IS MAKING TO THE LOCAL COMMUNITY. THE PAEDIATRIC PROFESSOR FEELS LIKE PART OF OUR FAMILY NOW! HE LOVES COMING TO MILDURA- IT REALLY HAS BEEN A GREAT SUCCESS FOR OUR COMMUNITY.” Nina Woulfe, Director, In Leaps & Bounds 8.2 Professional support and development In 2015-16, RWAV administered 361 grants to doctors through the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services’ Continuing Medical Education (CME) program and the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) program. Funding supports the ongoing professional development and medical education of medical practitioners in rural and regional Victoria. The program also aims to encourage trainee doctors to complete rural and regional placements by providing access to professional development subsidies. Alongside this, we continued to support the Additional Assistance Scheme (AAS), providing exam preparation support for eligible GPs in their efforts towards achieving fellowship. The scheme provided financial assistance of up to $7 700 to each doctor, to alleviate the cost of exam preparation. RWAV also ran a two-day GP Anaesthetics course in collaboration with St Vincent’s Hospital, involving skills stations and high fidelity simulation. 20 Annual report 2015—16 Rural Workforce Agency Victoria Rural Workforce Agency Victoria Annual report 2015—16 21