As part of GPSA’s work as a sector conduit, we are always looking for opportunities to improve the GP training landscape and empower our members through self-determination.
This is sometimes in conflict with government initiatives that tend to focus on controlling rather than enabling the individuals and business entities without whom there would be no primary healthcare sector in the future.
Recognising the Single Employer Model as one such control mechanism that could potentially threaten the independence of community primary healthcare, we came up with an alternative interpretation for the “SEM” acronym: the “Syndicate” Employer Model.
Presentation to Victorian university researchers, May 2023
Unifying the Medical Student Journey to GP Fellowship
through the Continuum of the Training Practice
Presentation to GPTAC, June 2023
To combat attrition
Medical student attrition from general practice pathways following poor placement experiences
Prevocational learner attrition from general practice pathways following poor placement experiences (at point in education when hospital alternatives of greatest influence)
To provide pathways for training practices
A growing number of practices keen to develop a learning culture for their teams:
unable to attain accreditation for registrars with current supply-demand issues
important to harness this desire to supervise and provide goals for quality
To increase attraction to general practice by reducing fragmentation
Impression of general practice as disjointed and dysfunctional from lack of uniformity in training practice expectations and supports (across individual university campuses let alone different universities / hospitals / RWAs etc)
Sector conduit
While members of GPTAC are the key to driving change at the endpoint of GP training, GPSA has a role as sector conduit that we are willing to exploit to help connect in the university and prevocational stages of GP educational pathways to minimise attrition and increase attraction to the specialty by:
Bringing together the disparate parties involved in general practice pathways to develop a supported standards framework for training practices to work within
Facilitating the implementation and ongoing evaluation of standards through Steering Group consisting of GPTAC members plus other relevant parties (Medical Deans of Australia and New Zealand, CPMEC etc)
Create supervision opportunities for GPSA members
Create a pool of “qualified” practices / supervisors for the universities and RWAs to match students / learners with
General Practice Supervision Australia (GPSA) is the only national “supervision” peak
Supports for supervisors of medical students through AGPT registrars
Develop and deliver educational modules aligned with practice standards for supervisors of medical students and prevocational learners to be recognised as having the capacity to provide quality placements
GPSA has the capacity to adapt 1000+ AGPT resources to supervisors and practices offering placements to medical students and prevocational learners, and further expand these to support supervision in general practice of nursing / allied health students
Give GP supervisors and practice teams a say in GP educational pathways
Training practices get little out of medical student / prevocational placements: but they are key to maintaining those students’ / learners’ interest in general practice
By uniting the disparate parties involved in general practice educational pathways, GPSA would have a voice in the creation of supervision pathways that honour and encourage quality training placements
Tie recognition of quality to appropriate reward for supervision across the educational spectrum
There is currently little recognition of, thus minimal reward for, quality supervision in the medical student / prevocational space
With national standards comes recognition of quality; with recognition of quality comes reward
Date reviewed: 01 October 2023
Please note that while reasonable care is taken to provide accurate information at the time of creation, we frequently update content and links as needed. If you identify any inconsistencies or broken links, please let us know by email.
admin@gpsa.org.au