2025 Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery Fellow

The Royal Children’s Hospital’s (RCH) vision is to be a great children’s hospital – delivering Great Care.

RCH is a cornerstone member of the Melbourne Children’s Campus, partnering with Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, The University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics and The Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

RCH has cared for the children and young people of Victoria for more than 150 years since it was founded in 1870. A full range of paediatric and adolescent health services are provided plus tertiary and quaternary care for the most critically ill and medically complex patients in Victoria. Tasmania, southern NSW and other states around Australia and overseas. The Hospital has more than 6,000 staff, a budget of $850M, 12 wards and 350 beds. Annually, the RCH has 300,000+ Specialist Clinic appointments, 90,000+ Emergency Department presentations and 20,000 elective surgeries.

The RCH is committed to the Child Safe Standards. 

RCH enjoys high employee engagement and is committed to staff safety and a positive culture through enactment of our Compact.

Further Information on RCH is available here.

The Department:

Oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMS) in Australasia is a principal surgical specialty of medicine and dentistry and is recognised by the Australian and New Zealand governments via their respective Departments of Health. Training in the Speciality is under the governance of the Board of Studies (OMS) of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons and has been fully accredited by the Australian Medical Council and the Australian Dental Council. There are 6 regional Training Centres and the allocation of posts and the activities of the Surgical Trainees are coordinated by the Regional Surgical Committees.

With a trend towards sub-specialization, newly qualified OMS surgeons may seek further experience by accessing post-qualification posts in specific areas. In recognition of this need, the Royal Children’s Hospital of Melbourne funds a Training Fellowship in Oral and Maxillofacial surgery: the “Fellowship in Paediatric Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery”. This post also incorporates a component of clinical research. The Royal Children’s Hospital of Melbourne (RCHM) is an internationally recognised institution for the management of paediatric and adolescent patients. The combined Melbourne Craniofacial Unit is a busy cleft & craniofacial service in the Asia / Pacific region (http://www.rch.org.au/plastic). Patients are drawn from a population of approximately 7 million and hence training can provide an excellent experience in paediatric OMS, cleft and craniofacial anomalies.

This hospital, linked together with the associated training hospitals in the Victorian OMS training programme (eg. Royal Melbourne Hospital, Epworth Hospital) and the practices of associated consultant staff, also offer experience in trauma, pathology, reconstruction, orthognathic surgery and implantology. While appointed Fellows gain wide experience in paediatric OMS, this does not include primary cleft or cranial vault procedures in the infant craniosynostoses as there is an additional Craniofacial Fellow from plastic surgery. However, there is training crossover and opportunities to participate in these procedures.

The role:

Applications are open to oral and maxillofacial surgeons in both our region and internationally, who are appropriately qualified as assessed by our Unit (see below). The applicant should possess the FRACDS (OMS), or its equivalent international qualification. Registration to practice in Victoria with either the Dental and/or Medical Boards of Australia will enhance the experience. The successful applicant will be expected to demonstrate a high level of commitment to their vocation with an interest in both clinical and research activity with a desire to extend their scope of experience beyond “core” training in OMS.

The position will reflect a mix of clinical / research activity of approximately 70% / 30%. Rosters are developed to provide flexibility according to the available workload and clinical experience. The appointee will report to the Fellowship Director of the Head of Oral and Maxillofacial Clinical Programme at the Royal Children’s Hospital of Melbourne and, when functioning at associated hospitals, will be under the guidance of the Heads of the relevant departments of those institutions. This post is integrated with the Victorian/Tasmanian Training Programme in OMS.

The post will be for 12 months and the Fellow will be required to document all experience in the form of a logbook reflecting operative experience, and participation in continuing education and presentations. The Fellow will be required to complete at least one research project that results in at least one paper to be submitted for publication. At the completion of the training period, the appointee will be evaluated by the Unit and if deemed to have successfully completed the requirements, a certificate will be awarded.

Applications are open for Fellowships to commence in August 2025.  Should you be interested in applying for the Fellowship, please attach your CV, cover letter and 2 references.

The position description can be found here.

Please note that the successful applicant must undergo a police and working with children check. In addition, all International Medical Graduate applicants will need to refer to the AHPRA website to ensure they have passed the necessary English language test https://www.ahpra.gov.au/Registration/Registration-Standards/English-language-skills.aspx

Any enquiries about this role can be sent to: Plastic.Surgery@rch.org.au

Why work at the RCH?

RCH enjoys high employee engagement and is committed to staff safety and a positive culture through enactment of our Compact. We offer the opportunity to work in world-class facilities,  surrounded by Royal Park and only a short tram trip from the heart of Melbourne city.

We also offer discounted staff parking, salary packaging, and an award-winning health and wellbeing program.

The RCH is committed to a diverse and inclusive workforce. We encourage applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from culturally and/or linguistically diverse background,  all members of the LGBTQI community and people with disability.

It is a requirement of your employment that you be fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and Influenza annually for Category A and B roles, in compliance with any public health orders in place at the relevant time, unless you have a medical exception in line with those public health orders, which has been accepted by The Royal Children’s Hospital.  Applicants will be required to provide their Australian Government Immunisation History Statement, it is a requirement of the RCH to collect, record and hold vaccination information.

It is also a requirement of your employment that you comply with any direction given by The Royal Children’s Hospital that you be vaccinated against, or prove immunity to, any other disease, unless you have a relevant exemption.

Are you ready to join our team? 

 Apply online by clicking on the “Apply now” button

The closing date for applications is Sunday, 30th June 2024