Research – What does GP Supervision cost?
GPEx, in association with the University of Adelaide and GPSA, are undertaking a study on the financial costs and revenue associated with teaching and supervision in Australian general practices [link to project clarification document on GPSA website]. First, we want to extend our thanks to the supervisors and practice managers who have been involved in this project.
We have finished interviewing supervisors and practice managers and found that often “teaching a registrar takes a village”. The substantial investment from the supervisor/s and the practice manager were evident. Practice level (eg., having experienced supervisors) and system level (eg., having a suite of resources) factors were seen to enable the teaching and supervision of registrars.
An important theme was that this is not a “one size fits all” model and there was substantial variation across practices. Practices and supervisors want to retain registrars after training and are invested in developing the future GP workforce because they love teaching. These findings informed the development of an online national survey, for which data collection has concluded. A cost revenue analysis is underway and a report of the findings will be available in 2022.
Below are some of the key findings so far:
What the practices said:
- It’s not just the supervision and teaching
- The practice manager invests substantial time too
- Teaching a registrar takes a village
- There are other financial and non-financial costs
- It is difficult to quantify
- It is not a one size fits all model
- It is part of a complex bigger picture
What makes it easier….
Practice level
- Patient scheduling
- Experienced supervisors and practice
- Flexible practice
- Efficient medicare billings
- Relationship with registrars
System Level - Available suite of resources
- Supervisors engaging in activities they enjoy and see the value in
- Practice-registrar fit
- Multiple registrars
- Opportunity for longer placements
Why do we do it?
- Keeping registrars after training
- Keeping up to date
- Intrinsic motivation to support the development to training our future GPs
- The love of teaching
Visit the GPSA Research page for future updates on this research and it’s findings.
Date reviewed: 30 November 2021
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