Early career doctor resources

Common consent: a guide for doctors in training

If you’re a doctor in training, you may be asked to obtain consent for a procedure or perform one under supervision. This guide answers common questions about assessing capacity, discussing risks and alternatives, handling questions you cannot answer, explaining who will perform the procedure and documenting the patient’s decision.

Common consent questions: a guide for consultants

As a consultant, you may ask another clinician to conduct the consent discussion or supervise a doctor who will perform the procedure. This guide answers common questions about delegation, checking consent before treatment, explaining who will perform the procedure and documenting the patient’s decision.

How the Avant Board delivers for members

Court rules on 17-year-old’s capacity to refuse lifesaving treatment

Although the court found a 17-year-old had capacity to make healthcare decisions, it concluded it was in the child’s best interest to order life-saving medical treatment even though the child refused it.

A mini-CEX on matrescence

A paediatrician reflects on returning to practice after maternity leave, and how becoming a mother may shape the doctor she's becoming.

I trained to treat people. Turns out I also had to know the law.

You didn't go into medicine because you love the law. So if you were caught off guard when you realised your job as a doctor isn't just clinical, you're not the only one. For many junior doctors, that moment they realise isn't a dramatic one. It can be a form on a busy shift, a conversation you're not sure is yours to have, or a signature someone wants because you're the one standing there.

The three minutes that mattered when the coroner called

How taking a few minutes to read a factsheet helped save this registrar's career.

Chances worth travelling for

Getting into medical school was a dream come true. But, that dream was punctuated by a car accident. In seconds, I was paralysed...