Training in Professional Skills (TIPS)

Registrations for 2026 courses will open at 10:00am AEDT* on the following dates:

RACS Fellows, SETs, and SIMGs: Monday 10 November 2025

General release (all eligible applicants): Monday 24 November 2025

*Time zones for release:

Fees for both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand will remain at 2025 fee prices.

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A tax invoice will be sent to you by email once payment has been processed and your registration confirmed

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At the end of this program, participants will be able to:

• describe the benefits and challenges associated with effective patient-doctor communication in surgical practice
• describe the benefits and challenges associated with effective teamwork and collegial communication in surgical practice
• identify personal strengths and areas for improvement with respect to skills relevant to the above domains
• identify methods for practising and integrating these skills in the workplace
• reflect on achieving appropriate professional behaviours.

TIPS caters to:

• Junior doctors aspiring to a career in surgery
• SET Trainees of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, training requirement for General Surgery, Orthopaedic Surgery, Paediatric Surgery and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery in Aotearoa New Zealand
• Specialist International Medical Graduates (SIMGs)

To register, applicants must be post-graduate year (PGY) 2+ registered medical graduates.

• Australia - AU $4,895.00 (including GST)
• New Zealand - NZ $5,475.00 (including GST)  

Australian SETs who are mandated to complete the TIPS course are exempt from GST on Australian courses.

Courses conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand will be invoiced in NZ dollars, regardless of residential country of applicant. 

The course fee includes:

• access to online modules and resources
• a certificate upon completion
• catering

Fees for both Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand will remain at 2025 fee prices.

When a course reaches capacity, you can register to be placed on the waitlist for that course.

Our team will contact you should a place become available.

Cancellation/withdrawal by participant:

• Withdrawal more than 10 weeks prior to course: 95% refund of course fee
• Withdrawal less than 10 weeks prior to course: 50% refund of course fee
• Withdrawal less than 6 weeks prior to course: no refund of course fee

If you cannot attend the course due to sickness or bereavement, the refund amount will be assessed on a case-by-case basis. Please email [email protected] as soon as possible.

• Transfers to alternative courses are not permitted, and will be subject to the applicable cancellation fee
• Refunds will be refunded by the payment method used at time of purchase
• Refunds for payments made by PayPal more than 6 months ago cannot be refunded. We will contact you for an alternative refund method.

Cancellation by RACS:

A full refund will be issued if a course is cancelled by RACS.

As of November 2025.

• Login to eHub

• Click your profile name (top right corner of page)

• Click My Registrations to view your enrolled courses
  
  
• Select CANCEL for the course you wish to withdraw from

• You will receive an email notification confirming your withdrawal. Refunds, if eligible, will be processed according to the cancellation policy above.

Overview

To complement the Training in Professional Skills Course (TIPS), the TIPS committee together with a working group of SMEs have developed a series of Human Factors eLearning modules. The modules were developed to provide emerging surgeons with an awareness of the impact of human factors on surgical practice and risk mitigation, and to improve patient outcomes. 

The comprehensive suite of online resources includes videos, interactive activities, reading, and knowledge checks. 

Topics covered include stress and resilience, conflict management, situation awareness, decision making, team dynamics, and speaking up in response to unacceptable behaviour. 

Audience

The modules are available to all RACS:

• Fellows
• SET Trainees
• SIMGs
• JDocs
• Staff
• Skills Training Faculty
• Applicants registered to attend TIPS and CCrISP courses

How to access

The Human Factors modules are available via the RACS learning management system (LMS) Moodle. There are seven subjects, please find links to the modules below:

• Conflict management
• Decision making
• Patient-centred communication
• Situation awareness
• Speaking up in response to unacceptable behaviour
• Stress and resilience
• Team Dynamics

The modules should take approximately three hours to complete. 

Testimonials

"Enjoyed the modules - good content, well laid out. I will likely revisit them again. The accompanying material was of great quality and value to me. There was some interesting and thought-provoking reading." (August 2019)

"I enjoyed them all because all were very relevant for everyday clinical work." (October 2019)

"Very relevant to practice with good models and applicant during the sessions" (October 2019)

"Good videos. Good test. Like how it's not a strict test." (February 2020)

"The use of videos were really good as they helped to consolidate the theoretical principles taught in each module." (July 2019)

Further information

Human factors come under a number of names including professional skills, behavioural skills and non-technical skills. Non-technical skills is perhaps the most popular and well-recognised term, but it is considered by some as a misnomer as these skills are highly technical. The knowledge, skill and rehearsal required to conduct a difficult conversation with patients and relatives or perform in a team as both an active follower and leader is just as technically demanding as that which is required for a difficult surgical procedure. A lack of skills in human factors can be just as devastating and dangerous as a technical operative failure to patient, your team and your own wellbeing. 

A number of studies indicate that more than 70 per cent of surgical harm is due to failure of the professional skills; of misperception, loss of situation awareness and decision making rather than a failure of technical skills. Many Trainees who do not make it through the training process underachieve in the non-technical areas. Until quite recently, surgical training focused mostly on medical and technical skills. 

There is a tendency to think the key aspects are our technical skills, but in fact the harder aspects to master are the non-technical skills. Evidence shows that when non-technical skills are performed badly, there is a direct link to adverse surgical outcomes (Rosenstein 2011; Catron et al. 2016; Cooper et al. 2017). Throughout these modules, many of the topics link to other College resources should you wish to further explore that particular area. 

Reference list

Rosenstein A. The Quality and Economic Impact of Disruptive Behaviours on Clinical Outcomes of Patient Care. American Journal of Medical Quality. 2011;26(5):372-379.

Catron T, Guillamondegui O, Karrass J, Cooper W, Martin B, Dmochowski R et al. Patient Complaints and Adverse Surgical Outcomes. American Journal of Medical Quality. 2016;31(5):415-422.

Cooper W, Guillamondegui O, Hines O, Hultman C, Kelz R, Shen P et al. Use of Unsolicited Patient Observations to Identify Surgeons With Increased Risk for Postoperative Complications. JAMA Surgery. 2017;152(6):522.

Australia

T: +61 3 9276 7453

E: [email protected] 

Aotearoa New Zealand

T: +61 4 385 5690

E: [email protected] 

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