General Medicine

The Department of General Medicine deals with approximately 16000 acute admissions per year.  These patients are cared for by sixteen acute medical teams and an acute stroke team.  Each team is staffed by a consultant, a medical registrar and a house officer.  Trainee Interns and/or 5th-year medical students from the Christchurch School of Medicine are often assigned to these teams.  Three acute teams are on-call every 24 hours and the teams work a 1 in 6 on-call roster.  Admissions are clerked in to a dedicated acute medical assessment unit.  Post take ward rounds are generally limited to 12 new patients to allow a manageable workload. All teams also participate in a 'third on' roster, taking new admissions from the night team in-between long days on-call.

The focus of the model of care is the continuity of team and continuity of patient care throughout the episode of care.  This allows you to follow the patients’ progress from admission all the way through to discharge.

Most of the General Medicine consultants do sub-specialty work, including infectious diseases, endocrinology, diabetes, and older person’s health.

The Department of General Medicine interfaces with all Internal Medicine departments and provides consultancy services to the surgical specialities.

General Medicine is an academic department with regular teaching, tutorials and presentations.  These provide excellent opportunities for learning and development.

There are also four advance trainee positions.  Registrars who contest and are selected for these positions have senior responsibilities, including the teaching of procedural skills, leading handover meetings, doing clinics, leading ward rounds under supervision and completing a project during protected time.

For further information:

Dr Anthony Spencer
Clinical Director
Email: anthony.spencer@cdhb.health.nz

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