Milestone

Foundation

Last updated 13 September 2022
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Instructions

Expand each role using the menu on the left to reveal its capabilities. Clicking on each capability on the left will show the associated competencies on the right hand side. These can then be expanded to provide more detail on the required knowledge, skills and attributes.

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13. Engage in reflective practice and ongoing learning

Do

  • Incorporate reflective practice into daily work, reflecting on clinical skills and knowledge to engage in a process of continuous learning.
  • Use reflective practice and evaluative judgement to identify whether:
    • clinical practice is evidence-based and, if not, determine whether it is in line with peers’ practice
    • there is justification and rationale behind clinical choices
    • culturally safe communication, both verbal and non-verbal (including written), is being used with patients and within healthcare teams (noting that cultural safety is best assessed by individual patients)
    • own practice is ethical and professional.
  • Discuss reflections with peers and/or colleagues to identify strategies to address any issues identified.

Do

  • Engage in reflective practice to support own learning, personal and professional development.
  • Actively seek formal and/or informal feedback from patients, peers , senior GP colleagues, mentors and non-GP specialist colleagues to whom you refer on important aspects of clinical practice, including:
    • communication with patients, family members and carers, and colleagues
    • provision of culturally safe care
    • quality of clinical care provided
    • standard of clinical decision-making
    • whether requests for help are delivered in a timely fashion
    • verbal and written clinical handover
    • quality of clinical notes, health summaries and referral letters.
  • Regularly reflect on own feelings after consultations, particularly challenging ones, and more generally on workload and work–life balance. Identify signs of fatigue, including compassion fatigue, burnout and vicarious trauma, and access support to manage these.
  • Integrate feedback into learning plan and reflect on effective strategies to address identified gaps or areas for improvement, including focusing on own wellbeing and self care.

Be

  • Be engaged in ongoing learning and open to conversations about improving practice.

Do

  • Identify a variety of strategies that suit own learning style to address areas of need identified in learning plan.
  • Access support from supervisor to address learning needs; for example, observed consultations, case-based discussions, clinical audits (referral letters, clinical notes) and random case analyses.
  • Consider learning activities and strategies; for example:
    • cultural awareness training
    • small group learning with peers and colleagues (eg journal clubs, case-based discussions, role plays, random case analysis, Balint groups)
    • participation in external data extraction/research projects
    • online learning modules.

Do

  • Plan meaningful learning and use reflective practice to identify strengths and gaps in knowledge, skills and attitudes and use this to inform development of a learning plan to address these, including formal professional development activities.
  • Identify specific health needs in the local community that require development of extended skills through specific training. Community needs may include high prevalence conditions or important public health issues; or specialised support that cannot be met due to a lack of secondary or tertiary public health services, as can occur in rural and remote communities (eg anaesthetics, obstetrics, emergency medicine).
Open all sections

Instructions

Expand each role using the menu on the left to reveal its capabilities. Clicking on each capability on the left will show the associated competencies on the right hand side. These can then be expanded to provide more detail on the required knowledge, skills and attributes.

Compare competencies of the roles at different milestones

14. Integrate best available scientific evidence, teaching and research into practice

Do

  • Base clinical decision making on:
    • presentation
    • existing evidence and guidelines
    • risks and benefits of the various options
    • values, beliefs and sociocultural context of the individual
    • ability of patient to access treatment (financially and physically).
  • Identify:
    • diagnostic and therapeutic guidelines to assist with management of the acute and chronic conditions outlined in competencies 5.2.1 and 6.2.1 (also refer to competencies 6.2.2 and 6.2.3)
    • factors that help in assessing if a guideline is applicable to a specific patient; for example, recognising comorbidities and diversity from the populations included in the research or on which guidelines are based.
Open all sections

Instructions

Expand each role using the menu on the left to reveal its capabilities. Clicking on each capability on the left will show the associated competencies on the right hand side. These can then be expanded to provide more detail on the required knowledge, skills and attributes.

Compare competencies of the roles at different milestones

15. Display commitment to practice quality and safety

Know

  • Understand the role of reflective practice and quality improvement strategies in reducing the incidence and impact of near misses, adverse events and critical incidents.

Do

  • Identify near misses, adverse events and critical incidents, including:
    • a missed diagnosis leading to a poor clinical outcome
    • a communication problem or difficult interaction between a health professional and a patient or family member
    • situations that cause individuals to feel inadequate, unsupported or confronted, etc.
  • Reflect on near misses in own and others’ practice. With peers and colleagues, discuss strategies to minimise risk of future events. Strategies may apply either to individuals or practice processes and may include identifying gaps in knowledge or resources. Include in learning plan, where relevant.

Know

  • Know the hazards and health and safety risks that arise in a practice as they affect personal and patient safety (refer to competencies 15.4.1 and 15.4.2).
  • Understand the importance of practices having policies and procedures that relate to discrimination, equal opportunity, harassment and bullying.
  • Describe cultural safety as it applies to practice staff as well as patients.
  • Understand the process for reporting injuries or concerns in the practice.

Do

  • Reflect on what support should be offered to staff in the practice; for example, vaccinations, ongoing training and development appropriate to their role and the practice population, and training in cultural awareness and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
  • Become familiar with the practice policies and procedures that relate to the workplace, especially in relation to equal opportunity, anti-discrimination, harassment and bullying.

Be

  • Be reflective of self and the environment.
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