Health Advisory Council

The Minister for Health and Wellbeing has established the South Australian Medical Education and Training Health Advisory Council (“the Advisory Council”) as an unincorporated health advisory council pursuant to section 15 of the Health Care Act 2008 (“the Act”). The Advisory Council is established to:

• Improve the quality of education, training and welfare for Trainee Medical Officers (TMO) within the State; and
• Make recommendations for the accreditation of TMO positions in health services.

The functions of the Advisory Council are to:

• Provide leadership in postgraduate medical education and training in the State;
• Provide expert advice to the Minister, the Chief executive and the Department on matters relating to postgraduate medical education and training, accreditation of medical training and issues surrounding the education and employment of international medical graduates;
• Identify, evaluate, monitor and promote medical education and training programs for TMOs and their trainers, in conjunction with key stakeholders;
• Work with vocational training Colleges to achieve high quality vocational training;
• Promote and actively encourage innovation in postgraduate medical training;
• Undertake the accreditation and monitoring of individual TMO positions in the clinical units, facilities and networks that support these positions using national and jurisdictional standards;
• Provide advice to the Department, after consulting with stakeholders, on the suitability of TMO positions within the State;
• Notify the South Australian Board of the Medical Board of Australia (MBA) of the Advisory Council’s recommendations in relation to accreditation of postgraduate year 1 training positions;
• Develop linkages and agreements with accreditation agencies and education providers;
• Establish, maintain and promote partnerships with relevant national and jurisdictional organisations;
• Contribute to a national core competency set for pre-vocational training and undertake research in relation to education and training pathways, assessment and the needs of international graduates; and
• Receive feedback from trainee medical officers about relevant safety and quality matters and advocate to health services about postgraduate training, health and welfare issues.

The SA MET Health Advisory Council is accredited as an Intern Training Accreditation Authority by the Australian Medical Council (AMC) and the Medical Board of Australia. The purpose of AMC accreditation is to recognise intern training programs that promote and protect the quality and safety of patient care, and meet the needs of the interns and the health service as a whole. This is achieved through setting standards for intern training programs and recognising intern training accreditation authorities that assess programs against these standards.

In 2022, an AMC team completed an assessment of the SA MET Health Advisory Council’s prevocational accreditation functions against the AMC’s Intern training – domains for assessing accreditation authorities. In August 2023, the AMC Directors agreed that the SA MET Health Advisory Council substantially meets the domains and is accredited as an intern training accreditation authority until 31 March 2028.

2025 Meeting Schedule

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Presiding Chair

Professor Kevin Forsyth is the Presiding Chair of the South Australian Medical Education and Training (SA MET) Health Advisory Council and the Chair of the Confederation of Postgraduate Medical Education Councils (CPMEC).

Kevin is immediate past Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health at Flinders University and Flinders Medical Centre. He is a General Paediatrician and Paediatric Immunologist with expertise and research interests in immune deficiency, airway immunology, RSV, pertussis, immunisation and medical education. He was the inaugural Dean and Director of Medical Education for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, Director of the Medical Program for the Flinders University School of Medicine and Dean (People and Resources) Flinders University.

He is also:

• Chair of the Children’s Research Foundation Scientific Committee and Board member of the CRF Foundation.
• President, International Pediatric Academic Leaders Association,
• Co-Chair of the Global Pertussis Initiative