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Rotate into your general practice experience

Program objective and aims

The program objective is to provide professional, well supervised and educational general practice placements for junior doctors as part of their training.

The aims are three-fold:

• build junior doctor confidence, exposure and interest in working in outer metropolitan and regional areas through supervised general practice placements
• increase understanding of the integration between primary and secondary health care by junior doctors
• provide an experience that may encourage junior doctors to take up general practice as a career.

Eligibility to apply to the program

The target group for this initiative is junior doctors undertaking hospital training but not yet enrolled in a speciality.

Recently added to this group are interns and international medical graduates who are now also able to participate in this beneficial program.

Depending on the capacity and infrastructure of the training collaborations, several general practice placements could be undertaken throughout the year.

Benefits of the program

Junior doctors (see Frequently asked questions)

• Real life experience in general practice over and above that of undergraduate training
• Exposure to a variety of health services from migrant to aged care health services
• Ongoing and personal mentoring by reputable and dedicated GPs in the field
• Direct patient contact
• Enhanced understanding of the Australian health care system
• Great networking opportunities
• Increased confidence and independence to take into future training and work environments.

To read more about how other junior doctors have enjoyed the program first hand, take a look at the Prevocational Program Quarterly (PPQ), the PGPPP newsletter.

Participating general practices and supervisors (see Frequently asked questions)

• Involvement in junior doctor training and provides an opportunity for junior doctors to understand the nature of general practice
• Further develop local educational networks with other organisations such as medical colleges, regional training providers, divisions of general practice, and university departments of rural health and rural clinical schools
• Ongoing support from fundholders and the RACGP
• Remuneration.

Participating hospitals (see Frequently asked questions)

• Increase the number of junior doctors able to rotate through a hospital
• Junior doctors exposed to a patient's journey before and after hospital care
• Junior doctors gain greater confidence and independence that they are able to utilise in future rotations.

National Evaluation Data

Results of the National Internal Evaluation Data Summary as conducted by the PGPPP National Advisory Committee (NAC) Secretariat. The evaluation assessed the outcomes of placements conducted between January 2005 - June 2007. For results of other evaluation parameters please contact Tullia Chung-Tilley, Project Officer PGPPP on 03 8699 0550.

National Evaluation Data PDF 53Kb - Less than 1 minute to download on a 56K modem.

Participating fundholders, hospitals and practices

A list of participating training collaborations is available to download from www.racgp.org.au/pgppp/training.

Below is a list of the local fundholders in each state. These organisations are involved in local medical training networks and should be the first point of contact in respect to finding out more about PGPPP in these areas.

NSW
Sydney Institute of General Practice and Training (SIGPET)

NT
Northern Territory General Practice Education (NTGPE)

QLD
Tropical Medical Training (TMT)
Central and Southern Qld Training Consortium (CSQTC)

SA
Adelaide to Outback (A2O)
Medical Accreditation and Training Association (MATA)
Sturt Fleurieu General Practice Education and Training (SFGPET)

TAS
General Practice Training Tasmania (GPTT)
University of Tasmania, Rural Clinical School

VIC
Central Highlands Division of General Practice
North West Melbourne Division of General Practice
North East Valley Division of General Practice

WA
WA General Practice Education and Training (WAGPET)

Contacts

For more information on the PGPPP and how to become involved please contact us:
Olga Makripoulias - Program Manager
Phone - 03 8699 0550
Email - olga.makripoulias@racgp.org.au

Tullia Chung-Tilley - Project Officer
Phone - 03 6278 1644
Email - tullia.chung-tilley@racgp.org.au

Rebecca Dharmaratne - Administration and Finance Co-ordinator
Phone - 03 8699 0564
Email - rebecca.dharmaratne@racgp.org.au

Outer metropolitan and regional placements

In January 2005, one of the initiatives included in the Medicare Plus package was specifically designed to provide junior doctors with an opportunity to work in general practice in a range of outer metropolitan, regional, rural and remote areas. This has provided a greater range of experience for junior doctors and complement their existing training.

The RACGP has a role of managing the program and overseeing the provision of now over 150 placements per year. As a managing organisation, the RACGP can facilitate placements in RRMAs 1-3. This equates to 35 full time equivalents.

The program is funded under a grant from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

Useful definitions

Rural, remote, regional and outer metropolitan: the rural, remote, regional and outer metropolitan (RRMA) classification system is used to define the areas eligible for the program. RRMA 1-3 (outer metropolitan and regional) and RRMA 4-7 (rural and remote) locations are all eligible.

Training collaboration: a group of organisations and individuals that each has a role in providing general practice training experience for junior doctors. This may include local practices and health services, hospitals, general practice supervisors, universities, local divisions of general practice and a fundholder. As a managing organisation, assitance or guidance required in forming a training collaboration can be provided by the RACGP.

What is general practice?

General practice is an integral part of the Australian health care system, and provides universal access to whole person medical care for individuals, families and communities.

What is a general practitioner?

A general practitioner (GP) is a registered medical professional who is qualified and competent for general practice in Australia. General practitioners possess the skills and knowledge to provide whole person, comprehensive, coordinated and continuing care, drawing on biomedical, physiological, social and environmental understandings of health.

More about the RACGP

The RACGP is a national leader in setting standards for quality practice, education and research in Australian general practice.

Its mission is to achieve and maintain the highest possible standard of primary health care in urban and rural Australia by supporting GPs and promoting the standards of general practice.

Publication Date: 18 April 2008
Authorised By: RACGP Education Department