As an organisation, MEDSAC supports clinicians to provide:
equitable sexual assault and non-fatal strangulation and/or suffocation (NFSS) care across the country
safe practice, and
safe handling of forensics.
Offering a recognised accreditation to SAATS and NFSSAS clinicians is one of the ways we do this. Accreditation supports clinicians by:
promoting therapeutic medical and forensic practice that is safe, competent and consistent
recognising competence and expertise in an area where a clinician's opinion may have far reaching effects
providing evidence of training and expertise for the other organisations clinicians engage with regularly – like NZ Police, ACC, Te Whatu Ora, Oranga Tamariki and the justice system, for example.
You need to be MEDSAC accredited, or working towards getting accredited, to work in SAATS or NFSSAS in Aotearoa New Zealand.
As a SAATS or NFSSAS clinician, you’re not only involved in the therapeutic medical and forensic aspects of patient care. You may also be part of any legal proceedings brought as part of a sexual assault or NFSS case. For example, you may be required to write medico-legal reports, or attend court hearings as an expert witness. You are trained and mentored to do this. Being accredited gives others an assurance that you have the skills and experience to do this kind of work.
Accreditation also provides a pathway to improving your practice, by helping you build your skills and knowledge over time. As a clinician working towards accreditation, you’ll:
become an affiliate of MEDSAC, and gain access to all the tools and resources that affiliate membership provides – like training, documentation, and peer and community support
join our mentoring programme, where you’ll be mentored through the accreditation process by an existing MEDSAC accredited clinician
learn how to effectively improve your practice through self-reflection, and continue to develop the skills required to be an effective SAATS/NFSSAS clinician.
Steps to accreditation
Contract to a SAATS or NFSSAS service
Before you can start the journey towards becoming MEDSAC accredited, you’ll need to contract to a SAATS or NFSSAS service – you can find the details of services near you in our Service Directory. Once you’ve found your local service, contact the Lead Clinician there to enquire about contracting to the service and becoming a member of their team.
Get MEDSAC membership
When you join the roster of a SAATS or NFSSAS clinic, you’ll be asked to fill in an Expression of Interest (EOI) to attend our Initial Therapeutic Medical and Forensic Training (ITFT) course and become a MEDSAC affiliate.
MEDSAC affiliate membership is free, and it’s available to anyone who is contracted to a SAATS or NFSSAS service as a forensic examiner or nurse. As an affiliate member, you’ll get access to a range of tools, resources and communities designed to support you in your ongoing work as a SAATS or NFSSAS clinician. You’ll also get access to our Learning Management System (LMS), called My Learning Hub, which has a library of online training resources.
When we receive your EOI for training, we’ll check to see if you’re already a MEDSAC affiliate – if not, we’ll be in touch to help get you set up before you start your training.
Attend training
There are different training courses available to you depending on the type of accreditation you’re working towards. Clinicians working with adults and adolescents will complete training run by the team at MEDSAC, but paediatricians will need to complete their initial training with Te Puaruruhau. Te Puaruruhau is a multi-disciplinary child protection team which forms part of Starship Children’s Health. They provide MEDSAC-recognised training to paediatricians across Aotearoa.
Assessment of Suspected Abuse in Children and Adolescent (ASAC) training – Te Puaruruhau
Join the mentoring programme
While you’re going through the accreditation process, you’ll be mentored by an experienced MEDSAC accredited clinician as part of our mentoring programme. They’ll provide you with guidance and support as you work to gain the experience you need to become accredited.
After accreditation
Because there can be time between cases, it usually takes about 2 years from attending initial training to becoming accredited. Once you get your accreditation, you’ll complete continuing professional development (CPD) activities every year to keep it current, and declare these to us on an annual basis through an online declaration form. Most of the CPD activities are things you’ll be doing in the course of your work.
Both the MEDSAC team and the wider SAATS and NFSSAS community will support you to continue your learning and development over time, and as a MEDSAC affiliate you’ll continue to get access to all of the tools and resources we provide.