Chair Reports -
January 2025

My sincere hope for this new year is that GPSA continues to build on established relationships and collaborations to enhance our reach in delivering quality and excellence in both supervision and training site support. As we crank back into gear after the New Year break, we look forward to continuing our ongoing efforts to advocate for sector-wide improvements alongside our sister organisation, GPRA, whose new President, Dr Chris Dickie, takes the baton from Dr Karyn Matterson as the clock strikes midnight on the 1st of January. We thank Karyn for her contribution in this role over the last two years.

Recognising that our research and advocacy activities remain on point, I would like to remind you to participate in any and all of our data gathering projects. The 2025 ENGAGE National Supervision Survey is like a megaphone for you to share your views and guide our focus to encompass the things that matter to YOU: please don’t rely on others to share what you are experiencing or observing. The more participants we have in our research studies, the more effectively we can shape a future for general practice supervision that meets your needs. We are currently progressing the mentorship of women supervisors in response to member input, which you or your colleagues may consider joining, and will continue to share new opportunities with you as we continue to innovate in this space.

The education team will continue to review existing resources and add new ones to streamline the delivery of supervision; if you have any areas or topics that you want tackled, please let us know. I am looking forward to supporting my co-supervisor in practice, who has only recently taken this on formally, and sharing both the GPSA resources that I have previously enjoyed and the new ones we launch this year.

My personal goal for 2025 is to highlight supervision and ensure that those of you who supervise in any capacity, formal or otherwise, own it with pride and cautious optimism. Whether you supervise in a community practice or in the hospital setting, and whether you supervise any trainee from medical students to GPs who are developing a special skill or interest… Yes, we are all generous and giving, for it is in the nature of the Guru to be all that and more.

So as the start of a new term approaches, let me challenge you this year with two words this time. Two words that may seem similar yet have a significant nuanced difference too: knowledge and wisdom, “Akal and Gyaan”. While they may appear similar, the true power lies not just in acquiring of knowledge and testing it, but in the experience of applying it and learning to translate it into results, so it transforms into wisdom. The challenge lies in ensuring both our knowledge and wisdom is passed onto those whom we supervise and those who follow us.

So as you get ready with the practical aspects – contracts, setting up a new doctor in your electronic systems, welcome pack and orientation, adjusting your own schedules to fit in as many workplace based assessments as this year demands –, I hope you take a moment to acknowledge the timeless impact of the tasks you are taking on, and let yourself appreciate the moments of joy these may have brought you. It is my prediction that they will bring you many such moments in the coming year too.