Interview - Dr James Jap

Working as a Palliative Medicine Advanced trainee in the Auckland Region will allow you to experience a wide range of palliative medicine provided in various settings and provided to the multi-cultural population of the wider Auckland Region.

A typical day of work involves:

• Clinical handover meetings in the morning.
• Ward rounds/Consultations - new patients take on average an hour to assess and follow ups take around 15 - 30 minutes.
• On call once a week, with 1:4-5 weekends dependent on work-site.
• Half to a full day of non clinical time per week.
• Attendance at Palliative Care focused clinics e.g. Motor Neurone Disease Clinic.
• Teaching sessions to be held at work sites.

You get the opportunity to work in a number of environments as follows:

Hospice Inpatient Units:
The chance to work as part of a multi-professional team in the provision of inpatient Palliative Care in a well supported environment. In the inpatient unit you will be primarily responsible for the patients under your care, but will work under consultant supervision.

Hospice Community Teams:
Working in the community teams you have the privilege to assess patients in their own homes. Working alongside their General Practitioners and other community services to provide Palliative Care in the community setting.

Hospital Consultation Teams:
Working within a Hospital Palliative Care consultation service you will have the opportunity to experience a wide range of Palliative Care scenarios. The variety of teaching hospitals available in the Auckland Region will also allow you to gain experience working with different cultural groups and to learn about their particular needs.

Overall, the Auckland training programme enables you to develop a wide range of clinical skills, personal skills and self care strategies which are all important for Palliative Medicine trainees. This is done while working within highly supportive teams, with good clinical role models around. You will be encouraged to pursue individual professional development in areas such as; leadership, quality improvement, cultural awareness, communication skills and management skills.