I hope it’s a been a good start to the training year for you, and want to remind you that, whenever guidance might be needed, you are not alone.
At the vocational training level, your College supports include your local SLO and relevant Regional Team member(s); complementing these, regardless if you are involved in placements for medical students, prevocational doctors or vocational registrars, GPSA offers the Community platform as a supervision intranet of sorts, where you can seek help from your peers and brainstorm solutions for emerging problems.
We also provide advice via email for all things NTCER, registrar onboarding and supervision support, along with regular educational webinars and over 1,000 best practice resources and digital tools.
Supervisors and practice managers in GP training form a vital community of practice, and February was marked by many of our sector partners releasing pre-budget submissions that paid homage to this community: aligning with GPSA’s priorities of recognition, reward and respect for our members.
We actively seek cross-portfolio recognition and reward for training practices and supervisors and commend all stakeholders who have used the platform of their own pre-budget submissions to argue the need for greater support of all parties at the coalface of GP training. This includes the RACGP’s calls for improved funding of GPT1, when significant trainee support is provided by supervisors, as well as training programs like FSP and PEP – which need to be sufficiently funded to allow consistent quality of training and supervision for all GPs in-training across the country.
I firmly believe that the increasing burdens and complexity of healthcare delivery, coupled with the worldwide shortage of medical workforce, make a collaborative focus on developing high quality “medical generalism” the only true solution for our communities. Strengthening and supporting placement experiences for optimum learning of these generalist skills is essential for a robust, effective future workforce. The breadth of knowledge and skills we command and convey through GP supervision is the bedrock of our health system, such that every training practice is a workshop where the next generation of GPs is crafted with a commitment to quality.
With the power in the hands of our members when it comes to the delivery of high quality placements, for the last 10 months GPSA’s research team has been tackling the gargantuan task of developing a tool to support benchmarking and quality improvement in GP training. Based on the best practice framework known as the General Practice Clinical Learning Environment (GPCLE), this tool now needs your input. As a supervisor of both medical students and GPs in-training, I am keen to contribute to the refinement of this innovative tool, and I encourage every member, everyone – educators, supervisors and practice team members – involved or aspiring to be involved in GP training across all educational levels, to test and provide your feedback on the GPCLE tool to ensure it serves as a fit-for-purpose resource to maximise the power you have in the future-proofing of primary healthcare.
Until next month… may the force be with you!
Dr Srishti Dutta
Chair
Date reviewed: 28 March 2024
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