The Curriculum for Australian General Practice (the Curriculum) has changed format several times since its inception. The current version of the Curriculum was released in 2016. It provides competency-based outcomes across the general practitioner (GP) learning continuum, from entry to general practice training, to GP practice under supervision to post-Fellowship learning. It is composed of several documents and levels, as detailed below. Current and older versions of the Curriculum are available on the website
The components of the 2016 Curriculum are:
- core skills units
- Core skills unit (CS16)
- Rural health core skills unit (RH16)
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health core skills unit (AH16)
- contextual units.
The core skills units are arranged in a competency and outcomes framework, with competencies and outcomes grouped in a hierarchical way:
1. Domains (5)
1.1. Core skills (13)
1.1.1. Competency outcomes (46)
1.1.1.1. Criteria (343)
- Pre–general practice (121)
- General practice under supervision (145)
- General practice – lifelong learning (77)
At the top level are five discipline-specific categories known as the ‘domains’ of general practice, each representing a major concept in the scope of general practice. Under each domains is a small number of global ‘core skills’ that describe, at a high level, the activities, behaviours, skills and attributes of the Australian GP. These are detailed with greater detail under the ‘competency outcomes’ and their component ‘criteria’. The criteria are divided into three conceptual stages in life-long learning. The core skills are common across each of the three curriculum units (CS16, RH16 and AH16), while the competency outcomes and criteria are specific to each unit.
The ‘contextual units’ are short overviews of different areas of activity that GPs undertake.
Assessment processes and content currently sit external to the Curriculum and are managed separately.
The Curriculum is used by:
- medical educators and education providers to develop their training programs
- The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) assessment team, which maps exam questions and assessments against the Curriculum. These assessments include those used for selection into general practice training, assessing progress and for examining suitability for Fellowship
- GPs in training as a guide for their learning and exam preparation.
Identified areas for development within the Curriculum include:
- revising the Curriculum structure, including
- strengthening the underlying competency and outcomes framework45–47
- anchoring it to the Profile of the GP
- aligning it with benchmarked international models of competency-based
medical education44,45,48
- improving mapping between outcomes, competencies and assessment
- improving accessibility
- aligning the Curriculum with current expectations of a curriculum49 to include
- programs of assessment50
- detailed syllabus with differentiation of different types of knowing
(eg information/skills/values and codified/tacit)51,52
- flexible educational processes, in accordance with Australia’s diversity and vast geographical footprint
- mapping of types of knowing to educational processes51,53
- extending the scope of the Curriculum to cover all RACGP education, including
- programs on the General Practice Experience Pathway to Fellowship
- continuing professional development (CPD)
- extended skills
- reinforcing a focus on education that addresses social inequity related to
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health
- culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) population groups
- people with disabilities
- lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/gender diverse, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) communities
- refugee groups
- supporting doctors who are
- international medical graduates
- Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander
- expanding areas of the Curriculum that are currently under-represented, including
- social determinants of health54
- GPs as health advocates55
- patient health literacy
- identified priority areas (national5 and RACGP identified)
- reflective learning56,57
- GP health and wellbeing/self-care58
- facilitation behaviour change models54
- leadership, research and teaching59–61
- digital literacy62
- climate change and its impact on health
- practice management63
- an ongoing plan for evaluation and review, and a robust process of ongoing
quality improvement.64–65