ABOUT US

Mission Statement

The course content will explore the detail “beyond the algorithm” with a focus on clinical reasoning to allow participants to develop greater insight and understanding of why we do things, not just how we do things in Emergency Medicine.

Participants will be encouraged to develop the knowledge and critical thinking skills to help them feel confident to manage both common and complex patient conditions that present to the ED.

The EMC & ENC faculty is made up of experienced Emergency Medicine clinicians from nursing , medical, pharmacy and physiotherapy backgrounds.
The courses are designed to be fun and interactive, as well as evidence-based.

Course content is aimed at staff working with emergency patient presentations in both urban and rural settings. The course would be suitable for junior medical officers especially those who are considering a career in Emergency Medicine, junior ED Registrars starting their training in Emergency Medicine, experienced ED nursing staff, paramedics and rural GPs.

Please this is not a specific exam preparation course. If you are seeking to attend a course for exam preparation, please see the link to other courses that may be more suitable.

“Beyond the algorithm, clinical reasoning in adult Emergency Medicine"

The EMCs Crew

AlAA'N IBRAHIM
Chair/Director of EMCs

Alaa'n is a senior Adult and Paediatric Emergency Specialist at The Prince Charles Hospital and St Andrews War Memorial Hospital.

Alaa'n has a passion for medical education and medical entrepreneurship.
Alaa'n is the founder of PEM Courses, AFEM Courses and EM Courses.

KATIE EAST
EN Course Director

Katie is an Emergency Nurse Practitioner with 14 years of experience in a range of Emergency Departments throughout Queensland. Katie has worked in mixed departments throughout her career and enjoys working with both adult and paediatric patients. Katie is a fellow of the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia (CENA) and previously served as both a CENA National Board member, Trauma Nursing program faculty and the CENA Education lead
for the college.

ANDREW NICHOLSON
EM Course Co-Director

Andrew is an emergency specialist currently working at The Prince Charles, Hervey Bay, and Maryborough hospitals, having previously held the position of critical care education fellow at the University of Queensland Royal Brisbane Clinical Unit. Andrew has over a decade of experience in the design and delivery of medical education at all levels from undergraduate to peri-fellowship, with special interests in clinical reasoning and value-based healthcare.

POLASH ADHIKARI
EM Course Co-Director

Polash Adhikari is a practitioner with over 3 decades of experience in medicine. He has extensive experience as an emergency medicine consultant, working at the Prince Charles Hospital in Queensland, Australia since 2006. He is also a fellow of the college of rural and remote medicine, and has interests in public health and medical leadership.Polash is passionate about a pragmatic approach to medical education.

Melissa McGrath
Mel McGrath is a Senior Staff Specialist in EM at GCUH and Robina Hospitals. She also works privately at John Flynn Hospital.
She grew up in Sydney and moved up north when she met her now husband Michael, a nurse.
They live in Tweed Head on the beautiful Tweed River and have 3 children.
Mel attained her Fellowship in 2010 and has worked pretty much full time since then. She was the DEMT at GCUH for 12 years and only gave up this role last year. She has been a strong female role model to many clinicians over the years and has seen multiple registrars start and complete their training.
Her ED ethos that we need to deliver timely and efficient care to our patients with empathy and good humour.
In her spare time she loves to cook, entertain, eat, drink wine, play with her puppies and has been known to deliver some stand up comedy.
Her favourite phrase which she tells anyone who will listen is, “Medicine is show business for ugly people!
Bring on the show !

ROBBIE LEY GREAVES

Robbie is an emergency physician who started training in the UK before moving to Australia, training between Bundaberg and Brisbane. He has a strong interest in critical care and prehospital care as well as teaching and research.
Robbie has been working with Queensland Ambulance Services

CAROLINE VENNER

After graduating from Nottingham University and doing a few years of RCEM training in the UK, Caroline finished ACEM training at the Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital (RBWH) in 2022.
Caroline completed the fellowship exams in 2021 and currently works as a FACEM in Gladstone as well as a fellow at Children’s Hospital Queensland Retrieval Service (CHQRS).

Amanda Harley

Amanda Harley was the first Queensland State-wide Paediatric Sepsis Clinical Nurse Consultant in Australia. Amanda is the paediatric nursing representative on the Queensland Sepsis Steering Committee, was a member of the National Sepsis Clinical Reference Group, lead by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Healthcare and the Australian paediatric and nursing representative for the Global Sepsis Alliance platform. Amanda is an Emergency Nurse, assessor for AHPRA, a panel assessor for the Queensland Civil and Administrative Tribunal and Director of the Paediatric Emergency Nursing Course. Amanda has her masters in critical care, post-graduate qualification in education and PhD. Her PhD investigated the recognition and management of paediatric sepsis in the ED. Her CNC role involved supporting the implementation of a paediatric sepsis pathway in EDs and inpatient units throughout QLD, alongside state-wide, national and international education design and delivery. She has been involved in and instigated a number of research projects around sepsis in the ED, led the first and only multi-site ED paediatric sepsis Randomised Controlled Trial on early inotropes and is the recipient of multiple research grants. Amanda is passionate about sepsis recognition and management and the roles nurses' play. Her current role as a Clinical Excellence and Implementation Assistant Director of Nursing focuses on the development, implementation and evaluation of initiatives to improve health service delivery. By undertaking clinical practice with research and quality improvement she is encouraging others to do the same.

HEMAL PATEL

Hemal Patel is a Staff Specialist in Emergency Medicine at Wyong Hospital. He is also a Conjoint Lecturer and Clinical Lead of 5th Year Medical Students at the Central Coast Clinical School with the University of Newcastle, NSW.

He has an interest in multidisciplinary medical simulation, including team, performance and efficiency. His interests outside of medicine include playing, squash, drums and cooking fried food.

Ciara Hegarty

Ciara is an Emergency Nurse Educator with a decade of Critical Care and Emergency Nursing experience, complemented by a deep interest in paediatric nursing. Ciara’s career started in the Intensive Care setting where her keen interest in respiratory anatomy, physiology and mechanical ventilation was ignited. Over the course of her career, she has honed her skills in critical care settings, garnering invaluable experience that laid the groundwork for her transition into the realm of nursing education. Her influence extends statewide through the implementation of innovative mechanical ventilation training programs and her co-authorship of the QLD Emergency Transition Support Program Mechanical Ventilation module.
Ciara's career weaves between clinical and educational roles. Ciara has worked as a Clinical Nurse Consultant at Logan Emergency Department, demonstrating her value as a clinical expert for both adult and paediatric emergency presentations. Ciara has also worked as an aeromedical flight retrieval nurse and a postgraduate sessional marker for Griffith University. In these diverse capacities, Ciara contributes to shaping the future of nursing, imparting knowledge and practical insights to the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Her dynamic blend of critical care expertise, paediatric nursing focus, and advanced education, positions Ciara as a leader in nursing education, dedicated to advancing best practices and elevating standards in both clinical care and healthcare education