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Resident doctors, RMOs and house officers

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Resident doctors, RMOs and house officers

Grow your experience. Further your career. You’re welcome here. Don’t take our word for it!

  • Excellent senior and junior teaching staff.
  • Close links with Auckland University’s Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences.
  • World-class research library, academic and clinical skills training facilities.
  • Wide range of specialties on one campus – loads of opportunities to learn procedures.
  • Good, affordable accommodation close to the hospital.
  • Enjoyable lifestyle – restaurants, nightclubs, galleries, sports events, family activities, ski-fields and surf beaches in easy reach.

Who we are

Our role is to recruit, roster and retain resident medical officers (RMOs) at Waikato Hospital. We coordinate the Year 1 house officer selection working within the ACE process, and we also coordinate house officer, senior house officer and registrar recruitment.

We aim to provide a friendly, accessible unit where you can call in for a chat or with questions and queries. Our open door approach means you can find support and guidance on a variety of issues from your allocated rotations and terms of employment to meal chits and leave forms.

We are responsible for:

  • house officer orientation
  • rosters (surgical house officers, O&G SHO rosters, and the medicine rosters for house officers and registrars)
  • checking practising certificates and, in conjunction with the MCNZ, registration status
  • allocating house officer (HO) rotations
  • managing the surgical (HOs only) and medical relief pools (HOs and registrars)
  • maintaining a central repository of all RMO run descriptions
  • administrative duties such as leave forms and claim forms and ensuring MCNZ supervision forms (where required) are submitted on time.

Contact information

You are welcome to contact us directly to talk about specific issues or clarify things. If you are not sure whether there is a place for you here, if we have runs that you want or whether we offer the training you're looking for, please send us an email or give us a call. We are happy to talk with you.

Such emails should be directed to the Medical Recruitment Coordinator in the first instance.

Email
RMOSupportService@waikatodhb.health.nz

Kia ora. You’re welcome at our house. We’d like it to become your home.

Why make Waikato DHB your preferred choice?

We offer

  • A tertiary and teaching hospital with an excellent reputation.
  • Extensive range of services – so you are exposed to a wide variety of learning experiences.
  • Comprehensive orientation.
  • A leading edge clinical skills centre on the campus.
  • Support and guidance from our helpful RMO Unit.
  • The opportunity to grow into a career of your choice – as generalist or specialised as you want.

Add to this

  • A vibrant campus – a place to meet new friends as well as learn new skills.
  • A city that has everything except traffic gridlock and high rents.
  • Outdoor adventures waiting for you to jump in and play.
  • All within easy reach of Auckland to the north and the ski-fields of Mt Ruapehu to the south, and beaches to the east and west. 

Teaching programme

All first year house officers have two hours of protected time each week to attend teaching sessions. We have a dedicated person who holds and answers the pagers while you are in teaching - if a page is deemed critical you will be summonsed from the meeting to deal with this.

Every Tuesday afternoon, there is a variety of clinical topics presented by senior doctors who are all experts in their fields.

Topics are wide-ranging with an emphasis on a practical approach to caring for patients.

Orientation

To ensure all first year house officers are well prepared to carry out a variety of procedures at Waikato Hospital, they must attend a four-day orientation course before starting work at the hospital (in November of each year).

The course is organised by Clinical Education Training Unit in conjunction with the Director of Clinical Training (DCT), and the Prevocational Education Supervisors (PESs), with facilitators coming from a variety of speciality areas.

The clinical learning stations include:

  • pain management
  • ordering radiology investigations
  • infection prevention and control
  • laboratory and blood bank
  • medication and prescribing
  • Emergency Department and acute admissions
  • outpatient overview
  • completing electronic discharge summaries
  • accessing the High Dependency Unit (HCC)
  • anaesthesia
  • cultural competence with Maori and Pacific patients.

Postgraduate Year 1 training schedule - 2020

When: Tuesdays 1.30 – 2.30pm (bring your lunch)
Venue: Bryant Educational Centre – subject to change

Rotation choices and categories

First year allocations are designed to give Year 1 house officers endorsed general registration after one year if they have satisfactorily completed all four clinical attachments.

During the first six months of employment, Year 1 house officers will not be rostered to work nights (in accordance with Clause 6.5 of the NZRDA DHB MECA). 

Each allocated block of clinical attachments comprises of four 13-week attachments. All these attachments are based at Waikato Hospital.

Allocating rotations for Year 1 house officers - Waikato Hospital

Allocation of first year clinical attachments

Waikato DHB's current annual intake of Year 1 house officers for the 2020-2021 year is 42FTE. Each year each house officer is allocated four clinical attachments per year (of 13 weeks duration) and these clinical attachments are specifically accredited by the MCNZ for first year training. 

Priority ratings for allocating clinical attachments

All clinical attachments are allocated randomly if applicants make no specific requests.

  • PRIORITY 1: Fulfilling MCNZ registration requirements.
  • PRIORITY 2: Matching the spread of very popular and less popular clinical attachments.
  • PRIORITY 3: Fulfilment of requests.
  • PRIORITY 4: Swapping of clinical attachments between individuals with mutual consent and with the approval of the RMO Manager.
  • PRIORITY 5: Matching the spread between high and low workload rotations.

Waikato DHB feels that this process is fair to all, but we accept that some individuals may get allocated some clinical attachments they do not like. We aim, at worst, to limit your exposure to 'unfavourable' rotations to one attachment per year if possible. 

Information on the New Zealand curriculum framework

PGY1s (or interns as they are referred to by the Medical Council of New Zealand [MCNZ]) must work in accredited clinical attachments under the supervision of a prevocational educational supervisor (PES). Prevocational medical training requires the Waikato DHB to deliver a two-year intern training programme with specific requirements for postgraduate Year 1 (PGY1 house officers) and postgraduate Year 2 (PGY2 house officers).

The MCNZ introduced the New Zealand Curriculum Framework (NZCF) in 2015 – this requires that the Year 1 house officers record their learning, have their progress tracked, create and update their Professional Development Plan (PDP), record continued professional development (CPD) activities plus complete their assessments through an e-portfolio system known as ePort.

The NZCF outlines the learning outcomes – underpinned by the concepts of patient safety and personal development - to be substantively completed in PGY1 and by the end of PGY2. These learning outcomes are to be achieved through clinical attachments, educational programmes and individual learning.

Additionally, every intern is required to complete one clinical attachment in a community based setting over the course of their PGY1 and PGY2 intern years.

Year 1 house officers are expected to meet with their educational supervisor at the beginning of the year and after each clinical attachment and will meet with their clinical supervisor on the clinical attachment at the beginning, mid-way through and at the end of the clinical attachment. It is important that the quarterly assessments are completed within two weeks of finishing a clinical attachment.

At the end of their first year of post graduate work, each Year 1 house officer is expected to have successfully completed four clinical attachments. They must have all assessments, PDP and CPD documentation completed by the date stipulated by their PES, in readiness for the advisory panel performance assessment meeting.

The advisory panel will meet to discuss the overall performance of each year one house officer, assess whether they have met the required standard to be registered in a general scope of practise and are therefore ready to proceed to the next stage of training. The advisory panel will hold the responsibility for endorsing the PDP as acceptable for PGY2.

To apply for registration within a general scope of practice the year one house officer must meet the following requirements.

  • The (satisfactory) completion of four accredited clinical attachments.
  • The substantive attainment of the learning outcomes outlined in the NZCF.
  • Completion of a minimum of 10 weeks full-time equivalent in each clinical attachment. (Full time is equivalent to a minimum of 40 hours per week).
  • Advanced cardiac life support (ACLS) certification at the standard of New Zealand Resuscitation Council CORE Level 7, less than 12 months old.

Looking for top quality teaching, research opportunities and good support?

Waikato Hospital is one of New Zealand's largest tertiary teaching hospitals with a full range of sub-specialties on one campus. 

You are at the stage where you want to: 

  • practice your skills
  • extend your knowledge
  • and build a strong foundation for your career.

You can do it here

We offer professional and personal support for Year 2, 3 and 4 house officers and registrars including:

  • a full programme of clinical education
  • involvement in research activities
  • excellent academic and clinical skills training centre
  • strong links to the Auckland University Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
  • an RMO Unit that is there to provide guidance, support and has an open door/drop in ethos.

Add to this

  • A vibrant campus – a place to meet new friends as well as learn new skills.
  • A friendly city set on the beautiful Waikato River, with a huge range of outdoor activities on the doorstep.

Let's talk!  Check out our vacancies listings for house officer and registrar positions.  

If you can't see what you want, don't hesitate to get in touch with us and see if we can match up your interests and our needs. The people you should talk to are:

Thames Hospital

Looking to gain a more generalist clinical experience? Wanting to get hands-on alongside excellent clinicians?

Then think about working at Thames Hospital. It is modern 54-bed rural community hospital at Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula.

A smaller hospital can offer more hands-on clinical involvement within a friendly and supportive team. The hospital now boasts new clinical facilities and equipment, and has been modernised to a high standard. 

Thames is a lovely coastal town renown for its fishing and friendliness.

House officer formal education sessions - 2020

When: Wednesdays 1.30 – 2.30pm (bring your lunch)
Venue: Bryant Education Centre – subject to change

Application process

You do not need to use a recruitment agency when applying to work at Waikato DHB. You can apply directly to the medical recruitment coordinator.

Applications for house officer positions are welcome at any time. Talk to us about what is available, keep in touch.

All applications and doctor’s personal information are dealt with in the strictest confidence. House officer and registrars jobs become available throughout each doctor year - specific vacancies are advertised and suitably qualified doctors are invited to apply online. The online recruitment assists with the coordination of candidate information through a centralised database to assist with the selection/allocation of clinical attachments for house officers and registrars across the DHB.

All applicants need to be eligible for registration with the Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ). 

Applicants must also be eligible for a work permit through New Zealand Immigration. 

Often doctors are planning their future placements and employment dates well in advance of planned recruitment cycles and outside of specifically advertised positions.

Waikato DHB welcomes such expressions of interest. We are currently developing our online capabilities to accept such expressions of interest. 

In the interim, you can register your interest in working at Waikato DHB by sending through a current version of your CV via email to RMOSupportService@waikatodhb.health.nz  (Please include some indication of the clinical attachments/specialty areas you would be interested in working in, the length of employment you are ideally seeking and your proposed start date of employment with us. Please note: registering an expression of interest holds no guarantee of employment).

We will also require certified copies of the following documents, but our medical recruitment coordinator will request these at the appropriate time during the application process. 

  • Medical qualification/transcript.
  • Personal details of your passport (and work visa and permit/NZ residency permit if applicable) OR birth certificate accompanied by driver’s licence.
  • Post-graduate qualification (if applicable).
  • If you are an overseas trained doctor you will need to check eligibility for registration with the MCNZ to practice medicine in New Zealand. This will determine your registration pathways. Also go to the MCNZ’s fees page to check the costs associated with registration. If you are an overseas trained doctor you will need to check with Immigration New Zealand to see if you are eligible to work in New Zealand.
  • If you are posting your application to us, please send scanned documentation to the following email address:

Recruitment Coordinator
RMO Unit
Waikato Hospital
Private Bag 3200
Hamilton
New Zealand

Once an application is received

  • The Medical Recruitment Coordinator will contact you and discuss the allocation of rotations, how long you are wanting to stay and when you are thinking of commencing employment. At this stage we need to discuss any special requirements you may have e.g. if you want to return to the UK for a fixed period to attend interviews or sit exams.
  • Your CV will be forwarded to the appropriate clinical director for vetting.
  • If your CV is approved as suitable, and if a suitable vacancy exists, we will send you a job offer letter, a position description and a job acceptance form. Each job offer normally has a stated time within which you need to accept or decline the offer.
  • If your CV is not suitable, we will advise you.
  • When you accept a job offer, the Medical Recruitment Coordinator will send you an enrolment and information pack and get in touch with you about any additional forms and information we need.
  • The Medical Recruitment Coordinator then lodges the papers with the MCNZ to start the formal process of getting you registered. The MCNZ will notify you if additional information is required. They will notify you when registration has been approved and will send you a list of MCNZ agents you can visit on your arrival in New Zealand to have all your documentation formally checked and approved – so remember to bring the listed original documents with you.

The whole process can take up to 13 weeks to complete.

Do you want clinical experience in a tertiary hospital? Would you like to explore your career options and explore a delightful new country?

You can do both here

Waikato Hospital is one of New Zealand's largest tertiary teaching hospitals with a full range of sub-specialties on one campus.  Its located in a medium-sized city (Hamilton) in a region (Waikato) that offers a temperate climate, a great lifestyle and a friendly welcome.

Are you a UK or Irish graduate who has gained registration at home?

Or do you come from a country considered to have a health environment comparable to New Zealand's? (See list below).

If so, we welcome your interest in working in Hamilton at Waikato Hospital.

We offer professional and personal support for Year 2, 3 and 4 house officers and registrars including:

  • a full programme of clinical education
  • involvement in research activities
  • excellent academic and clinical skills training centre
  • strong links to the Auckland University Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences
  • an RMO Unit that is there to provide guidance, support and has an open door/drop in ethos.

Add to this

  • A vibrant campus – a place to meet new friends as well as learn new skills.
  • A friendly city set on the beautiful Waikato River, with many opportunities for outdoor activities close by.

Making an application

If you are an overseas trained doctor you will need to check eligibility for registration with the MCNZ to practice medicine in New Zealand. Also go to the MCNZ fees page to check the costs associated with registration.

If you are an overseas trained doctor you will need to check with Immigration New Zealand to see if you are eligible to work in New Zealand.

The full process for application for a job at Waikato District Health Board is shown under house officers and registrars heading on this page, as well as pay rates, house officer runs and registrar positions, education programmes and the hospitals you can work in.

Orientation

Moving to a new location and starting a new job can be very daunting – where do you start in your search for accommodation, schooling for your children, searching for a job for your partner plus finding answers to all those other questions you have when setting up house.

At sign on we give RMOs commencing employment at the Waikato DHB a copy of the Hamilton City Map +Index and for those new to New Zealand we give them a copy of Hamilton City Council's Hamilton New Settlers Guide which is updated annually. These publications are available on the Hamilton City Council website www.hcc.govt.nz and contain useful and general contact details and information.

Waikato’s RMO Pocketbook - an orientation guide

Starting at a new hospital has its challenges – where to go, who to contact, policies and guidelines, forms to fill out, procedures to follow, to name but a few. Waikato’s RMO Pocketbook (an orientation guide) was developed to help you with all of this.

This booklet has been written by doctors for doctors and is intended to be a dummy’s guide to being an RMO at Waikato DHB. Hopefully this pocketbook will give you the basic information you need to get you started and survive on the wards on a day-to-day basis. If there is still anything that you are unsure about, either ask one of your colleagues (as many of them have been here a while) or speak to the RMO Unit. This booklet will be handed out to all new RMOs at the commencement of their employment.

There is a comprehensive orientation spread across 4 days for our PGY1 doctors. You will be given your required accesses, training and introductions as follows

  • Whakatau & Welcome from our CEO
  • Service Specific introductions
  • Prevocational Education Supervision
  • Pharmacy and prescribing training
  • IS Training
  • Campus Tour
  • RMO Council Members
  • Union Representatives
  • Wellness
  • E-Learning
  • Health & Safety
  • Resources
  • How to do things at the Waikato DHB

Administrative forms

As with all organisations there are a number of forms that needs to be completed at various times. 

Just as a familiarisation exercise, these are the forms RMOs will most frequently use. 

Finding your way

ACE roadshow

ACE RMO Roadshow is held every year in March.

The ACE roadshow is an opportunity for TI’s or RMOs to meet representatives from each DHB. The Waikato DHB will have a representative and PGY2 doctor attending to answer any questions.

Dates and venues are listed below

  • Dunedin: 2021 TBA

  • Christchurch: 2021 TBA

  • Auckland: 2021 TBA

  • Wellington: 2021 TBA

If you have any questions you want to direct to Waikato DHB then contact RMO Unit at

If you would like to contact ACE directly please contact them at

Vacancies

The rotation allocation process is only available to currently employed RMOs working at Waikato DHB. If you are an RMO external to our organistaion, or an overseas trained doctor, you can only apply for specifically advertised positions.

RMO jobs

FAQs

You can apply directly to Waikato DHB. You do not need to apply through a recruitment agency.

However, you must apply for your job through the proper Waikato DHB recruitment processes. As such, the recruitment process is conducted online through the Waikato DHB eRecruitment system. Please visit our vacancies page to view current vacancies/opportunities. As well as your up-to-date CV, we ask for a covering letter and at least three references.

Prospective Year 1 house officers apply in accordance with the protocols and procedures required by the ACE matching system.

Contact our recruitment coordinator if you require assistance with your application or Medical Council of New Zealand (MCNZ) registration.

Email: RMOSupportService@waikatodhb.health.nz 
Phone: +64 7 839 8699

If you’re a prospective Year 1 house officer, you should ask a consultant from a hospital you have worked at as a trainee intern to provide you with a reference or a consultant who supervised your elective placement. It pays to check that your referees are happy to act in this capacity for you - and will say positive things - before sending them referee forms to complete.

House officers should furnish three written references and also the names of people we can contact for verbal referee checks. A designated clinician will consider your CV and suitability for the position. They may also contact you directly. Waikato DHB uses a standardised referee report form.

Registrars are interviewed according to Waikato DHB’s recruitment policies.

Yes, but if a document needs your signature, you must send us the signed hard copy.

Applications through ACE are all electronic.

If your partner is also a doctor, we would welcome applications from you both. If you are married, please remember to let us know if you and your partner have different surnames. We’ll try to accommodate you if there are suitable vacancies.

If your partner is a member of another professional group or occupation, there may be other employment opportunities in the DHB or at other academic, research institutions or businesses in Hamilton. We are happy to point you in the right direction.

Waikato Hospital follows the ACE process for Year 1 house officers, so we won't be interviewing you. Instead, candidates will be ranked against a (nationally) agreed set of criteria and the final ranked list of candidates will be viewed by a clinical panel before that list is submitted to ACE for ranking.

House officers and registrars - you will be notified if you are required to attend an interview.

All 20 DHBs in New Zealand have committed to continuing the ACE system (Advanced Choice of Employment) for the recruitment and placement of Year 1 house officers for the coming years.

All offers and acceptances of employment will follow standard Waikato DHB recruitment processes. We’ll send you a letter offering you a position. If you want information quickly, we will also send you an email. Your acceptance, however, must be in writing and be received by the stated date (in your job offer letter) to be considered valid.

Yes, as in the past.

In the case of Year 1 house officers applying through the ACE system, only one matching will be held.

You have the right to turn down any job offer. We hope, however, that by applying to Waikato Hospital you have already considered the benefits of coming to work with us.

For Year 1 house officers, when you enter into the ACE matching process it is expected that you will accept the matched position offered to you.

Candidates who do not win placements in the first instance or through the ACE matching system will be able to apply directly to district health boards (DHBs) for any advertised positions.

Year 1 house officers have specific requirements for registration with the MCNZ within their first 12 months and therefore need to complete four MCNZ accredited clinical attachments.

All other house officers are asked to list in order their preference of clinical attachments. We do our best to try to match you to your preferred choices.

Registrars need to apply for their jobs.

Yes - and it’s developing an even stronger focus on training and research. It has a modern library and academic centre to support this move. The centre accommodates a clinical skills training suite which is fully equipped for medical staff to practise their skills.

Yes. A RMO facility is situated on Level 4 of the Waiora Building. It includes separate sleeping facilities, a change/locker room, lounge area with a fully serviceable kitchen area, comfortable seating and sky digital, plus there is a study and computer room off this central lounge area. 

This has been greatly improved around the hospital campus. The library boasts 20 computers for public use. There are also computers stationed in the hospital that you can use as well as in the RMO lounge.

The Upper Deck cafe is open 7.30am to 8.30pm seven days a week. As per the NZRDA DHB Collective Agreement, every RMO is entitled to a meal over a designated meal period. The Upper Deck Cafe is the only place from which RMOs can uplift their meals. At Waikato Hospital, we have developed a chit system as the process for getting these meals. This will be explained in detail upon appointment.

There are also great cafes close to the hospital which serve superb coffees and food.

Car parking spaces at Waikato DHB are at a premium – but doctors are given priority for the available spaces. You can be issued with a swipe card, and each time this is used for campus parking, a deduction will be made from your salary.

For those working long days, for safety and security reasons, you are able to park in the car park building off Hague Road. This will be explained in detail upon appointment.

There is also a locked bike shed facility with accompanying showers and changing rooms. This is attached to the Wilson Carparking building adjacent to the Hague Road carparking building. This is a secured building and keys can be purchased from the car parking administration building.

A childcare centre, Lollipops Educare, is situated opposite the hospital.

We try to give all new arrivals up to a maximum of two weeks free accommodation when they arrive in Hamilton. (Please note, this is only short term and no extensions can be given beyond the two weeks.)

Doctors don’t usually find this a problem as good accommodation can be found at reasonable rates within walking distance of the hospital. 

The normal structure applies: consultants, registrars, house officers and Year 1 house officers.

Sometimes they work purely in teams so that the team of the consultant works when that consultant works; on other occasions, there has to be ‘x’ number of house officers on with a registrar; or only house officers (not Year 1 house officers in the first six months of their employment) working nights; or registrars on advanced training schemes may be required to only work two sets of nights in a one year period.

It varies according to the team, department and clinical requirements.