Chair Reports -
April 2025
From the Chair...
A note of gratitude
As I write to all our members, I reflect on what has been for many a disruptive and challenging month since our last newsletter – a month replete with events that seemed insurmountable and uncontrollable. Whether tropical weather, dry storms, fire, flooding or drought, even if you were affected by the destructive forces of nature you will have continued to be a pillar of support in the community you serve – persevering in your role as GP, RG, supervisor, practice manager and/ or practice principal. My thoughts are with all who had to deal with these challenges, and I remain grateful to you for both enduring the challenges and having supported the peers and trainees under your guidance and care.
It is at times like these that being part of a supportive community and practice team, which we may at times take for granted, becomes most apparent. I would specifically like to recognise the vital role practice managers play in steering the ship through times of uncertainty and outward chaos. As a clinician and supervisor, witnessing the singular focus our practice manager had on ensuring the best conceivable way forward for every member of our team and patients in the preparation for, during and in the aftermath of Cyclone Alfred was oddly comforting: reminding me of the stoic resolve with which I saw that practice manager deal with the unexpected and pivot as needed throughout the pandemic.
Moving onto things more routine, I thought I would bring to your attention one of the supervision resources I have recently benefitted from out of the varied repository created and curated by the GPSA education team over the last 2 decades. By now I suspect that most supervisors will be using workplace-based assessments as part of the educational supervision for your trainees, and one of these is random case analysis – a powerful tool that allows you to delve into and provide feedback on aspects of the trainee’s progress such as knowledge, clinical reasoning and other domains. GPSA – General Practice Supervision Australia | How to… Random Case Analysis is a resource I would highly recommend, both as a refresher for experienced supervisors but in particular for any new supervisors who might be embarking on this supervision adventure as it allows you to understand the principles as well as the “how to” of effectively engaging in this activity.
This month I would also like to thank the many GPs and practices who – whether as a positive choice or due to lack of availability either of GPiTs or of the option to be accredited for vocational training by their College – have chosen to invest their time, energy and resources in welcoming a medical student into their practice. There is good evidence that your actions are pivotal in both inculcating and maintaining the interest that these students have for general practice as their future career choice. With steadily growing uptake of this option and Commonwealth attention on increased GP placements for medical students and prevocational doctors from next year, GPSA has developed dedicated content for you: GPSA – General Practice Supervision Australia | Brief guide to Supervision of Medical Students. If you have further questions or queries, including around the remuneration for this aspect of supervision, please do not hesitate to contact us; activating your free account on the GPSA Community and engaging with your peers also gives you access to answers for questions you haven’t even come up with yet!
Last but not least, this month we are wrapping up your opportunity to help us direct our advocacy, education and support foci by participating in our national supervision survey, GPSA – General Practice Supervision Australia | ENGAGE 2025 – Stronger together: your voice, our mission – GPSA Annual Survey. Last year we doubled our response rate and were able to demonstrate the continued interest from our members in this aspect of their professional identity and their strong commitment to supervision – even in the face of extreme challenges. I would strongly encourage all of you to use this survey as your voice, one that allows us to continue to advocate for you, including things that you think need improvement or change across your role and the sector. Those of you who may already have been involved with another exciting translational research project, one that has been progressed over a number of years, will be pleased to know further offerings for “Women in Supervision” (including a webinar) are on the way. If you are interested in the future direction of this or any of our other research projects, please join us in the upcoming webinar or contact our Director of Research and Policy A/Prof Samia Toukhsati.
Here’s looking forward to ongoing engagement, advocacy and growing not just the future GPs, but also the future supervisor workforce in collaboration with all of you.
In conclusion, as I started with gratitude to all of you, I share a quote from another one of my favourite movies and humbling characters that you may well be familiar with, Forrest Gump:
“My mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.”
Dr Srishti Dutta
Chair
Date reviewed: 27 March 2025
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