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Friends of the College

What is ‘Friends of the College’?

The Friends of the College provides an opportunity for long standing members of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to remain active in our college and to continue to contribute to the growth and future of their professional college. The Friends of the College program will provide those members of the college who are no longer practising with an opportunity to remain involved in their local Faculty and to foster a sense of collegiality. As a Friend of the College you may choose to continue your involvement in your Faculty as an examiner, mentor and/or examination supervisor – sharing your extensive general practice knowledge and expertise with this nation’s future general practitioners.

The Friends of the College program also provides an opportunity for our college to acknowledge and celebrate the special contribution made by our Life Members through the loyalty and commitment they have shown their college over many years. Our Friends of the College program also provides members with an opportunity, if they wish, to make a tax deductible^* financial contribution to the activities of their college.

^{*Please check tax deductibility status of the specific projects you may wish to support.}

Friends of the College projects (optional):

The Friends of the College play an important role in the continued growth and success of our college into the future. Those Friends of the College who so choose will have the opportunity to make a tax deductible donation in a given financial year in support of range of special college projects, including:

RACGP Research Foundation

The RACGP Research Foundation supports research and researchers in general practice through grants and fellowships, promotes research and enhances the quality of health care. By making a tax deductible donation to the Foundation you will be helping local researchers address issues that impact on the professional lives of your peers – improving cardiovascular health, exploring how to implement evidence based care in practice, better understanding women’s health and improving indigenous health. For more details go to http://www.racgp.org.au/researchfoundation

RACGP John Murtagh Library and resource centre

The RACGP John Murtagh Library was named in honour of a great Australian general practitioner and educator, and provides the largest primary care collection in the southern hemisphere. The library and resource centre has provided a specialist service to general practitioners for over 30 years and supplies information and resources to support college members in all areas of their professional life, including patient care, research, exam preparation, continuing professional development, talk preparation, current awareness and practice management.

RACGP Indigenous Health Unit

The RACGP recognises that improving the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is one of Australia’s highest health priorities. The college supports the drive towards self determination of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders by acknowledging that Aboriginal community control in health is a key means of reducing health inequalities.

The college established an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Unit in 2006 with the appointment of Manager, Mr Alan Brown (from the Gunditjmara people in south west Victoria) and Dr Jenny Reath, the unit’s general practitioner manager who previously managed the National Rural Faculty (NRF) Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health projects.

The new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Unit is working on a range of activities with our two key partners: the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation and the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association. The activities focus on improving the education, training and support of GPs working in this important health area and improving understanding of critical health issues which impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

National Rural Faculty Brian Williams Award

This award commemorates the late Dr Brian Williams, rural general practitioner, medical educator and Director of the WA Centre for Remote and Rural Medicine, who was a staunch advocate for rural general practice and the need for rural general practitioners to provide support to their rural general practitioner peers in order to advance rural general practice.

The Brian Williams Award is awarded to a College member who is recognised as making a significant contribution to the education of rural doctors on the medical benefits of work-life balance. The aim of this award is to acknowledge the peer-mentoring that has been identifi ed as important in engendering a culture of self-care and family-care amongst rural GPs and their patients. This award will be conferred at the Annual Scientific Convention.

RACGP History of the College project^{^}:

The History of the College project will chronicle the development of our national professional college from its beginnings as a loose confederation of individual faculties, and the corresponding emergence of a discipline of general practice education and research. The History of the College project will trace the development of general practice as a specific and defined discipline, with the establishment of Chairs in universities to teach general practice, and funding by the federal government of a training scheme for general practitioners in 1973.

It will provide a valuable resource for emerging general practitioners and young GP researchers. The History of the College will preserve the knowledge of the past and stimulate the present and future endeavours of the RACGP in education and research into the future, to improve the skills of its members in educating their patients and delivering a continuing form of primary care to all Australians.

The History project will be implemented through the University of Melbourne, with research being undertaken by a scholar taking advice from a coordinating Committee of our college Council. The History will be published progressively on the RACGP website, as a dynamic ‘living history’ and may also be published in hard copy in the future.

^{^ Donations to the History of the College project are not tax deductible.}

What are the benefits of The Friends of the College?

The Friends of the College will benefit from the knowledge that their on-going support (whether financial or in-kind) is contributing to the future development of their college.

The Friends of the College will be acknowledged in a number of ways (subject to their consent):

• Acknowledgement in the College’s Annual Report (of that financial year)
• Acknowledgement in the State Faculty Annual Report (of that financial year)
• Acknowledgement in the History of the College (for those members who choose to make a financial contribution to support the History of the College)
• Acknowledgement in the National Rural Faculty Annual Report and AGM (for those members who choose to support the Brian Williams Award)
• Presentation of a parchment by the President and Faculty Chair at the Faculty Awards night acknowledging their support as a Friend of the College
• Acknowledgement of the contribution of The Friends of the College by the RACGP President at the Annual Scientific Conference

Patron of The Friends of the College:

Dr David Game AO KSJ has had a long and distinguished career in general practice, at the local, state, national and international levels. In his home state of South Australia, Dr Game has long been involved in general practice training and assessment, as well as organising local educational activities.

He was Censor for the RACGP South Australian Faculty and RACGP Censor-in-Chief. Dr Game is Past RACGP Council chair from 1969 to 1972, and RACGP President from 1974 to 1976. Dr Game has been President, Secretary and Treasurer of the World Organisation of Family Doctors (Wonca) which represents general practitioners and family doctors around the world.

In 1980 Dr Game was awarded the Rose Hunt Award, the RACGP’s most prestigious award, for promoting the aims and objectives of the College. He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1983 for his service to medicine.

Publication Date: 22 July 2007
Authorised By: Membership