GP Supervisors Research Articles

In‐practice and distance consultant on‐call general practitioner supervisors for Australian general practice?

Increasing numbers of medical students and junior doctors learn and work in general practice. Increased supervisory responsibilities for general practitioners threaten the quality of care provided to patients and the income thus derived. Incremental changes to infrastructure and funding are welcome, but insufficient. Alternative models must be funded, trialled and evaluated. One such model, involving consultant on-call GP supervisors, is proposed.

Supervision — growing and building a sustainable general practice supervisor system

This article explores various models and ideas for future sustainable general practice vocational training supervision in Australia. The general practitioner supervisor in the clinical practice setting is currently central to training the future general practice workforce. Finding ways to recruit, retain and motivate both new and experienced GP teachers is discussed, as is the creation of career paths for such teachers. Some of the newer methods of practice-based teaching are considered for further development, including vertically integrated teaching, e-learning, wave consulting and teaching on the run, teaching teams and remote teaching. Approaches to supporting and resourcing teaching and the required infrastructure are also considered. Further research into sustaining the practice-based general practice supervision model will be required.

Vertical integration of teaching in Australian general practice — a survey of regional training providers

To examine vertical integration of teaching and clinical training in general practice and describe practical examples being undertaken by Australian general practice regional training providers (RTPs). A qualitative study of all RTPs in Australia, mid 2010. All 17RTPs in Australia responded. Eleven had developed some vertical integration initiatives. Several encouraged registrars to teach junior doctors and medical students, others encouraged general practitioner supervisors to run multilevel educational sessions, a few coordinated placements, linkages and support across their region. Three RTPs provided case studies of vertical integration. Many RTPs in Australia use vertical integration of teaching in their training programs. RTPs with close associations with universities and rural clinical schools seem to be leading these initiatives.

Isolated rural general practice as the focus for teaching core clinical rotations to pre-registration medical students

BackgroundEarlier studies have successfully demonstrated that medical students can achieve success in core clinical rotations with long term attachments in small groups to rural general / family practices.MethodsIn this study, three students from a class of 226 volunteered for this 1-year pilot program, conducted by the University of Queensland in 2004, for medical students in the 3rd year of a 4-year graduate entry medical course. Each student was based with a private solo general practitioner in a different rural town between 170 and 270 km from the nearest teaching hospital. Each was in a relatively isolated rural setting, rated 5 or 6 on the RRMA scale (Rural, Remote, Metropolitan Classification: capital city = 1, other metropolitan = 2, large regional city = 3, most remote community = 7). The rural towns had populations respectively of 500, 2000 and 10,000. One practice also had a General Practice registrar. Only one of the locations had doctors in the same town but outside the teaching practice, while all had other doctors within the same area. All 3 supervisors had hospital admitting rights to a hospital within their town. The core clinical rotations of medicine, surgery, mental health, general practice and rural health were primarily conducted within these rural communities, with the student based in their own consulting room at the general practitioner (GP) supervisor's surgery. The primary teacher was the GP supervisor, with additional learning opportunities provided by visiting specialists, teleconferences and university websites. At times, especially during medicine and surgery terms, each student would return to the teaching hospital for additional learning opportunities.ResultsAll students successfully completed the year. There were no statistical differences in marks at summative assessment in each of the five core rotations between the students in this pilot and their peers at the metropolitan or rural hospital based clinical schools.ConclusionThe results suggest that isolated rural general practice could provide a more substantial role in medical student education.

Medical students' and GP registrars' accommodation needs in the rural community: insight from a Victorian study.

Medical education in Australia is currently entering a new era, including support for the significant extension of medical students and general practitioner (GP) registrars' training programs in rural communities. This commitment to rural medical student and general practitioner recruitment and retention has made the provision of accommodation in rural communities a vital issue. This study has found that approximately half of all medical students on placement with rural GPs are currently accommodated with their GP supervisor or with other practice staff. This is a burden for many GPs and when the anticipated increase in the frequency and length of rural placements occurs what is currently a burden will become unsustainable. The changing gender and cultural demographics of medical students and rural general practitioners will also contribute to stresses on this accommodation system. It is important to have a systematic approach towards more appropriate and sustainable models of accommodation for both medical students and GP registrars.