Medical Education Officers (MEOs) play a vital part in supporting and developing thriving prevocational doctors who go on to have successful careers. However, this was not the case a mere two decades ago.
In this edition of PMCV Insights, we will be exploring the formation and development of the MEO role in addition to sharing the experience and perspective of the first and longest serving MEO in Victoria, Susie Sangas and fellow MEO Jerry Tumney.
The concept of creating a Medical Education Officer role in Victorian health services first emerged in 2004.
At that time Beverley Sutton, the current CEO of Health Education Australia Limited, was the HMO Manager at Austin Health and heavily involved in PMCV Committees. She attended a conference in Queensland where they showcased a model for the MEO role. She returned and shared this idea of creating a role in our health services with the PMCV.
A formal proposal was submitted and supported by a review commissioned by the Victorian Department of Health which highlighted the various gaps in the support, supervision, and structured education provided to prevocational doctors in Victoria. One of its key recommendations was the introduction of the MEO positions within health services to coordinate and enhance prevocational doctor education and training. Once the concept was approved, it resulted in the appointment of MEOs in five of Victoria’s metropolitan health services who met on a regular basis to share ideas and support each other. Those health services were Austin Health, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Alfred Health, Monash Health, and the Royal Children’s Hospital.
Susie Sangas was one of these MEOs who was appointed by Bev and fellow manager Dr Libby Jones at Austin Health.
Susie was the first appointed MEO in Victoria and continues to serve as the Medical Education Manager at Northern Health. We had the incredible opportunity to interview Susie and hear about her firsthand experiences and her thoughts on how the role has evolved.
Susie explained that when the position was first established and she received her position description it was “so brief and open ended”. It primarily consisted of implementing projects and initiatives with little to no instructions.
“I had to develop and implement a formal, protected teaching program for interns. I needed to standardise the orientation process by developing unit-based orientation handbooks across all intern rotations. I also need to implement Structured Term Assessments and set up a clear process for mid-term and end-of-term assessments, ensuring feedback was timely, constructive, and documented while supporting supervisors and interns to engage in meaningful not punitive conversations. In addition, I had to create a Comprehensive Junior Doctor Handbook and Website by providing accessible, centralised information for junior doctors.”
Whilst she was working on these early initiatives, Susie had the assistance of and opportunity to shadow a MEO in Queensland who had undertaken the role a few years prior. Susie noted that “her support was instrumental in getting me on track” and “illustrates the collaborative and pioneering nature of the role at the time”.
Upon reflection of this period with no local precedent, Susie disclosed that “I had essentially had to build the program from the ground up — adapting interstate models to suit Victoria’s context. It was a true “start-up” role.
We also had the pleasure of hearing from fellow MEO Jerry Tumney, who commenced the role at Goulburn Valley Health in 2006 and “never looked back”.
When asked about her experience in the role, Jerry shared that “day-to-day responsibilities change every day and I really enjoy the variety”. Responsibilities cover anything from planning, developing and coordinating initiatives, delivering orientation, and implementing initiatives for accreditation and framework compliance. It also includes welfare checks, chatting with prevocational doctors and providing administrative or strategic support.
Susie echoed this sentiment.
Although it was challenging to create concrete change especially in the early days, “chipping at the bricks” and forming connections is what allowed Susie to thrive, “sharing what I do and bringing others along on the journey – and that resulted in real, lasting changes starting to happen”.
The MEO role has provided support, consistency and structure in the Medical Education sector that formerly did not exist. Susie shared that “MEOs have helped to embed formal education programs, streamlined assessments, ensure proper orientation to rotations, and most importantly, provide a go-to person for prevocational doctors” navigating their training journey.
Jerry agreed outlining that the MEO role “has had a significant and multifaceted impact on Victorian prevocational medical training, particularly in supporting the structure, quality, and consistency of medical education across health services”.
PMCV has worked to support the MEOs in Victoria since their inception as we recognise the importance of the role within health services.
Susie shared how PMCV has helped her to fulfill her role stating that “in the early days, I really valued being able to visit the PMCV office, sit down with other MEOs, and have open discussions about our roles.”
She also outlined that “more recently, under the AMC Framework, PMCV has continued to play a vital role—acting as a sounding board to ensure we’re aligned with national standards and helping us interpret and implement the changes effectively.” In addition, she highlighted that PMCV has been a strong advocate for the MEO role, “given that it’s a position not widely understood outside of medical education, PMCV’s support has been critical in legitimising and strengthening the role across the health system.”
Both Susie and Jerry mentioned specifically how PMCV has created a valued community of practice being the MEO Network “offering a space to share ideas, collaborate, and learn from one another” overall helping to strengthen the culture of medical education in Victoria.
Looking to the future, Jerry envisions the MEO role evolving into having a stronger stake in wellbeing, training/skill development and career planning for cohorts in the prevocational phase.
Susie agreed that she believes the role will grow in scope and influence as the healthcare system evolves. She stated that prevocational doctors will increasingly need more than clinical knowledge, “they need emotional support, career guidance, and help navigating systems that can often feel overwhelming.” The MEO role can fill those shoes and provide guidance in the workforce planning, quality improvement, data analysis.
To conclude, Susie emphasised that “at its core, the strength of the MEO role will always lie in relationships — being a trusted, accessible presence who champions the needs of prevocational doctors.”
PMCV wants to express thanks to Susie Sangas, Jerry Tumney and Beverley Sutton for their contributions to this feature and extend that to all the MEOs on the ground in Victorian health services making a difference for prevocational doctors.
