Chair Reports -
October 2024
From the Chair...
Trees and leaves, facts and fiction… and then some!
Have you ever looked carefully at a leaf? If you examine its veins, you can see the imprint of the tree from which it fell. This is nature’s way of reminding us that what we do today can leave an impression that lasts long into the future.
While I would never otherwise refer to my esteemed colleagues as trees (nor our trainees as falling leaves), the metaphor here is clear… GP supervisors do more than just influencing the learner’s mind in a myriad of ways, we also shape their fundamental structure as amazing clinicians and (hopefully) dedicated supervisors for the future.
I don’t know about you, but stopping to consider what my impact might be on my medical students and GPs-in training is a crucial aspect of my reflective practice as both a GP and a supervisor. So much of our role seems to be about the passing of that invisible baton: inviting learners to look backward in order to take hold of our knowledge and expertise. In truth, we are at our best when we can keep those learners forward-facing, empowering them to create their own legacy and make general practice what they, and our future communities, need it to be. From metaphors and analogies to movie references, this brings to mind a quote from another of my favourite characters from fiction, Neo (Keanu Reeves) in The Matrix: “A world without rules and controls, without borders or boundaries. A world where anything is possible…”
Time flies quickly and there are now just a handful of months left in 2024, spring giving way to summer – but not before that in-between season that straddles the two: the GP / RG networking season!
Although I am looking forward to many interactions and conversations when we get to Darwin for the AAPM conference, RMA and the ANZ Prevocational Medical Forum, followed closely by Perth for GP24 and Adelaide for PRIDoC, for some like me, this networking season is already underway! It kicked off for me at the Remote Vocational Training Scheme (RVTS) 24.2 Brisbane workshop, where I joined a panel of experienced supervisors charged with giving current and future peers the benefit of our combined wisdom. It was a joy to share some of GPSA’s values and wares with the group, and to see familiar faces including four members of the national SLO Advisory Council.
Remote supervision remains key to supporting registrars in rural areas, and what came through the most for me was the supervisor’s role in ensuring a safe journey for their trainees. Seeing so many new supervisors who have previously been registrars with RVTS is a testament to the success of this program, and the average age in the room was hearteningly low too.
Moving onto wider discussions, I thought I would share with you some of my learning and unlearning over the last 10 months in my term as GSPA Chair. It can be tricky to separate facts from fiction when we are constantly being assaulted by so much new information…
| Fiction | Fact |
|---|---|
|
GPSA is part of or under the umbrella of another sector peak or organisation |
GPSA is an independent organisation and the only peak for supervision teams and training sites |
|
GPSA’s relevance in the sector has diminished since the transition to College-led training |
GPSA remains the only voice for some 10,000 contributors to GP training, including current and prospective supervisors, practice managers, practice owners and medical educators
GPSA is College-agnostic and has a growing membership of supervisors and clinical teachers including those who teach medical students and GPs-in-training across all training pathways and programs
GPSA facilitates communication and networking across our 3 distinct member cohorts – supervisors, practice managers and practice owners
GPSA is the sole provider of phone and email support, online education, innovative apps and games, over 1,000 open-access resources and administrative templates with a specific GP training lens
GPSA is an accredited CPD provider for RACGP, ACRRM and AAPM |
|
GPSA only serves a purpose in our education offering, has no involvement in research, advocacy or policy, and only engages within a narrow range of topics or issues |
GPSA is committed to nurturing the passion and values that underpin high-quality GP training at the coalface
GPSA is a driver of quality, innovation and sustainability
GPSA focuses on supporting our members’ confidence, well-being and satisfaction in their supervision role
GPSA’s advocacy and policy agenda is driven entirely by our members, who regularly and actively engage through research, direct communication with the GPSA team and Board, and participation in a robust virtual community of practice |
|
GPSA is unable to keep up with the changing needs of the sector |
GPSA is focused on supporting and sustaining current and future supervisors and training sites to ensure incoming medical students and GPs-in-training have reliable ongoing access to high quality experiences in community practice |
|
The NTCER is out of touch with sector needs and not legally enforceable |
GPSA and GPRA, with a combined membership of 30,000, are jointly responsible for the NTCER, which is both a legally-enforceable vehicle for the employment of GPs-in-training and a template for practice-registrar relationships across all pathways and vocational training situations including SEM and ADF |
|
The surplus of (AGPT) accredited supervisors and training sites makes concerns and needs expressed by those with registrars irrelevant |
Supervision at the coalface constitutes up to 90% of the GP-in-training’s learning and is about our future, our legacy, and maintaining the value that general practice delivers to the wider health care sector
While working with the Commonwealth and sector partners to develop new opportunities for accredited supervisors/ sites without AGPT registrars, GPSA works tirelessly to represent those who feel powerless in a system that relies on them without acknowledging their changing needs |
|
Supervision is unremunerated as it has no benefit to the learner’s educational needs, contributing to nothing other than workforce development |
GPSA is actively engaging with other sector peaks and stakeholders in a meaningful, effective and collaborative manner to address the current lack of recognition and respect for the single most important component of GP training |
I am confident that our existing members will identify with the facts and not the fiction in this table, and I hope this goes some way to providing potential and future members with a better understanding and clarity around this too.
GPSA is our members.
Our values, generosity and adaptability are a reflection of yours.
I continue to speak on your behalf at the many tables where decisions are being made around general practice and primary care training and employment structures and strategies. Please keep sharing your views with us, reaching out to me and to your peers in the vibrant GPSA Community.
And, with less than 2 months to go, please save the date for our upcoming Annual General Meeting: Thursday 28th November 2024, 7.30pm AEDT. We would really love to see you there with us (online!).
Dr Srishti Dutta
Chair
Date reviewed: 30 September 2024
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