Ready to ROC
We’ve marked the final months of 2021 with the launch of our most revolutionary member communications platform in years.
The RACP has opened the ROC (RACP Online Community), offering secure, member only near real-time communication to all members,
with further services and features to come.
Physicians, paediatricians and trainees across both countries have long requested that the College develop an online community.
Now live, the ROC offers unprecedented abilities for members to identify peers and broaden networks themselves across specialties and time zones, without having to go directly through the RACP itself.
Mentors can match with mentees, and in coming months we’ll be launching additional features including a Special Interest Directory which members can nominate to.
The project has been a huge undertaking for the RACP.
Following a rigorous procurement process, US company Higher Logic is providing the platform and the App. The ROC has been more than a year in the making, requiring collaboration across virtually every area of the College to deliver the platform for members.
Nearly 300 members at different career stages including trainees across Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand were recruited for a three-month
pilot. Member activities and usage patterns were observed and informed
the development of guidelines to encourage vibrant, collegial and
constructive dialogue.
The platform went live in late September.
With one pilot member wag describing the platform as feeling like the “…lovechild of Facebook and LinkedIn...” the ROC functions as a virtual, members-only common room for the entire College, but also a series of private member communities according to physician affiliations from Chapters and Faculties right through to our two Divisions.
With appropriate anonymity observed, discussing cases or seeking differing opinions is encouraged, but also any other topics such as lifestyle, health and wellbeing or other issues.
Users of these types of communities are known to spend time reading and observing content and discussions before starting their own conversations or participating in others.
For this reason, the College is expecting slow but steady growth in participation, so the ROC will run for a year, before the Fellowship Committee decides whether to make it permanent, based on usage data.
We strongly encourage all members to download the ROC app from the App Store or Google Play, or log in via MyRACP.
You can view a short login instruction video and see what some of your peers have to say about using the ROC.