GPRA is happy to announce a partnership with St Vincent’s (Melbourne) and Royal Melbourne’s Hospitals ECHO initiative to support GP registrars/new Fellows enhance their management of pain and addiction in their practice commencing 7 March 2024.

The EPOM (ECHO in Pain and Opioid Management) project encourages sharing knowledge between future GPs and clinical experts using weekly video conferencing sessions.  Multidisciplinary clinical specialists conduct virtual case-based learning sessions with clinicians from across Victoria. Cases are drawn from the participating clinicians’ own practice.  Project ECHO is a platform for specialist centralised health services to support capacity building for general practitioners across Victoria.

Led by a team of Pain Specialists from Royal Melbourne Hospital and Addiction Medicine Specialists from St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, the ECHO for Pain and Opioid Management (EPOM) is a weekly 1-hour interactive session over 8 weeks (7.30am – 8.30am) commencing March 7 (for four weeks) and again in June (for four weeks) which will include case-based learning and a brief didactic session for best practice management chronic pain and high dose opioid medication.  The curriculum will cover the following key learning objectives:

• Understand best practice management of patients with chronic pain
• Understand the interdisciplinary dynamics of managing a patient on long-term treatment with opioid medication.
• Able to apply a case-based learning approach to optimising assessment and treatment of a patient with chronic pain and opioid dependence. Able to safely and effectively prescribe Schedule 8 medications and other drugs of dependence

GPRA members are encouraged to enrol and participate in this 8 session EPOM program which will enhance your knowledge and build networks with other clinical specialists. This opportunity is only available to GPRA Members who are GPs in Training (Registrars) or new Fellows. Limited places available.

ECHO sessions will be held via videoconference. (Link will be emailed in due course).
There is zero cost for members to register for this event.