Roles

The roles of the specialist general practitioner 

General practice is a broad discipline, and to deliver education, training and assessment in a meaningful and coordinated way, the content needs to be arranged in a logical format. The roles can provide that structure.
In this second edition of the Profile five role-based domains of the specialist general practitioner are used which are:

• Communicator
• Clinician
• Health advocate and leader
• Professional
• Scientist, educator, and researcher

The evolution from the four roles of the Profile in the first edition to these five roles allow for unification with the RACGP curriculum and ensure these two guiding instruments are useful and functional for RACGP education, assessment and training.

It is acknowledged that in all their professional interactions, the roles of a specialist GP are interconnected (as represented in Figure 2) and specialist GPs seamlessly integrate the multiple roles into their patient care and work within the community. Whilst the roles and capabilities may initially appear straightforward, they are only a window into the detail of the breadth and depth of skills, knowledge and abilities which are represented as the competencies of a specialist GP.  The unique combination and depth of competencies are what differentiates the specialist GP from other professions and allows them to perform their central role in the healthcare system.

Figure 2. represents the interconnected nature of the five roles of the specialist general practitioner