Education, Q & A sessions & Working Groups
The Research Office will be providing recurring educational sessions for staff involved in health research. This is an opportunity to not only learn about the process, but to ask questions about your own research application.
2024 Research forums
June 2024 - Commercialisation and Intellectual Property – watch the recording here
August 2024 - OTDS Tissue Bank – watch the recording here
December 2024 - Building links with research partners - Register now!
Research 101 Training Sessions
The Research Office is running it's brand new training session - Research 101! Sessions will run from 9am to 12:30pm, with a light lunch and networking to follow. The sessions will cover:
- Intro to the Research Office and how we can support you
- Developing your research question
- Reviewing evidence / literature review
- How to develop a protocol
- Ethics and Governance
Sessions are being held face to face across the District:
Sutherland Hospital - 17 September 2024
St George Hospital - 24 September 2024
War Memorial Hospital - 22 October 2024
Sydney/Sydney Eye Hospital - 29 October 2024
Randwick Campus - 3 December 2024
Register for the sessions here
Q&A sessions - twice weekly via TEAMS
The Research team hold Q&A sessions for researchers to drop in, no booking required, to discuss queries.
The Q&A sessions take place every Tuesday 1.30pm to 2.30pm and Thursday 11am to 12 pm.
Please join a session here
Working Groups
Clinical Trials Governance Framework Implementation Working Group
The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC), on behalf of all jurisdictions, developed the National Clinical Trials Governance Framework (Governance Framework) as the first step towards a nationally consistent approach to the accreditation of health services for the conduct of clinical trials. The Framework will ensure health service organisations comply with the actions in the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards 1 and 2 for clinical trial services as provided in the Framework, and to identify additional resources that may be required for SESLHD to meet implementation requirements.
Please email SESLHD-RSO@health.nsw.gov.au for further information or to be included in the working group for SESLHD implementation of the Clinical Trials Governance Framework.
Education & Training Courses
ICH GCP Training
Good Clinical Practice (GCP) is an internationally accepted standard for the designing, conducting, recording and reporting of clinical trials involving human participants. To meet the requirements of the National Clinical Trial Governance Framework, all staff involved in medical research must complete & maintain accurate GCP training.
GCP training courses range from 5 hours to 1 full day and should be renewed every 3 years to ensure best practice and adherence to current legislation. There are free and low-cost options for GCP training for all SESLHD staff, which are TransCelerate certified and compliant with the Mutual Recognition (MR) Program for ICH E6 Good Clinical Practice (GCP) Training.
- Free, online: A-CTEC, NIDA training, Global Health Training, Roche
- Free, online and in person: Sophie Mepham via SPHERE (for SESLHD staff only)
- Low cost, online: Genesis, Tanya Symons Associates, WAHTN (AHRA pricing)
From 2023, all investigators conducting research in SESLHD must provide evidence of current GCP compliance. This will be a requirement for both ethics and governance (SSA) submissions at SESLHD. Without evidence of current GCP compliance, you will not be able to commence your study at SESLHD. This evidence will be mandatory from 1 July 2023.
Macquarie University Human Research Ethics Course
Macquarie University offers a free educational training module covering human research ethics for the social sciences & humanities. There are 6 parts to this course & you will receive a certificate upon completion. The Macquarie University Ethics training does not expire.
Click here to access.
Using Clinical Health Data for Better Healthcare
NSW Health and Sydney University have partnered to provide an open online course that provides insight into the use of healthcare data, practical information about obtaining useful data from digital health systems and fundamental concepts of health data analytics.
Free enrolment is available via Coursera.
Clinical Excellence Commission
The CEC WebEx modules are aimed at staff who interact with patients. Courses cover content including Improvement Science, Driver Diagrams, Run Charts, Pareto Charts and Basic Measurement.
For further information, visit the CEC Academy.
Safe Transport of Infectious Substances by Air Course (Shippers Training Course)
The Safe Transport of Infectious Substances by Air Course (Shippers Training Course) has been compulsory since 1 July 2004. You are required by the International Air Transport Authority (IATA) and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) of Australia to ensure that you and your staff receive dangerous goods training on an approved course every 2 years.
Who is required to undertake this training?
The current government legislation requires all those who pack, mark, label or complete the paperwork associated with shipping of these items (ie dangerous goods) must be trained (classified as a Group F employee). Therefore, for example, anyone who places a sample of the above in packaging, uses dry ice (or liquid nitrogen) as a refrigerant for any shipment (regardless of the content) or a flammable liquid must be approved by successfully completing this training. This includes:
- researchers
- pathologists
- clinical trials staff
- laboratory managers and technicians
- stores personnel
- nursing staff and medical practitioners
- veterinary industry personnel
For further information is available here
My Health Learning
Please note, to access HETI courses on My Health Learning (MHL), you must log in with your Stafflink ID.
You can access MHL here.
Ethics in Research
1. MHPOD: Ethics in Healthcare Research
Course code: 97558335
Duration: 20 mins
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 0.3 hrs Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- Why ethics is important in healthcare research
- Key guidelines for research
- NHMRC & their role in regulating ethics in research
2. Learning path - Research
Course code: n/a (search ‘Learning Path – Research’ in HETI)
Duration: 2 videos & a quiz
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 0.5 hrs Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- Video 1: Research – an introduction for beginners
(characteristics, types of research you can undertake and the steps required) - Video 2: Planning the research process
(research process step by step in preparation for developing a research proposal) - Quiz
Informed Consent & Mental Capacity
Researchers are to ensure all participants recruited for health studies have provided informed consent & had the capacity to provide such consent.
1. Capacity Workshop
Course code: 154931325
Duration: 30-45 mins
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 0.7 hrs Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- When & how to assess a patient’s capacity to provide informed consent to care
- Resources such as NSW Attorney General Capacity Toolkit & Mini- legal Kits from Capacity Australia
2. IDMH-10 Consent, Decision- Making & Privacy: A Guide for Clinicians
Course code: 249108791
Duration: 1.5 hrs
Certificate on completion? Yes
Includes:
- Intellectual disability & the assessment of mental capacity to provide consent
- Steps when a participant lacks the capacity to decide on participation
- Legal & ethical requirements for substitute consent or decision- making
- Relationship between the right to privacy & duty of care
Cultural Awareness & Diversity
Providing communication or information that is tailored to the diversity of medical research participants is essential for strong participant partnership in research.
1. Working in Culturally Diverse Contexts
Course code: 39962639
Duration: 30 mins
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 0.5 hrs Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- Importance of assessing needs of people from culturally & linguistically diverse backgrounds
- Overview of available resources or processes for partnering within diverse settings
2. Learning Path – How to use healthcare interpreters
Course code: n/a (search ‘How to use healthcare interpreters’ in HETI)
Duration: 6 videos
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 1 hr Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- Video 1: Risks of using family to interpret
- Video 2: Assessing the need for an interpreter
- Video 3: Face to face communication with interpreters
- Video 4: Telephone interpretin
- Video 5: Interpreting in family conferences
- Video 6: Interpreting in mental health interviews
3. Learning Unit – Diverse Populations
Course code: 367603274
Duration: 2-4 weeks
Includes:
- Acknowledging & recognising the diversity of patients & the workforce
- Partnering with individuals across diverse background
- Engaging in culturally sensitive practices
- Recognising influence a healthcare professional’s beliefs or attitudes can have when working in diverse settings.
Partnering with Consumers
1. Working with Consumers and Communities
Course code: 41749567
Duration: 20 mins
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 0.3 hrs Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- Benefits of partnering with consumers
- Strategies & methods to facilitate working with participants
- Tools & resources to support consumer engagement
2. Person Centred Care
Course code: 43392513
Duration: 30 mins
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 0.5 hrs Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- Involving participants in sharing information & decision making about services
- Draw learning from patients & carer’s experience
- Provide services that reflect patient’s needs & preferences
- Involving patients in continuity of provision of services & care
3. Partnering with carers
Course code: 58522287
Duration: 20 mins
Certificate on completion? Yes (may qualify for up to 0.4 hrs Continuous Professional Development)
Includes:
- Diversity of carers & their roles
- How to incorporate carers into part of the care team