RACGP AGPT selection supporting rural registrars
As Australia’s largest representative body of rural GPs, the RACGP is best placed to ensure rural and remote communities’ needs are considered in the selection of candidates into the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program.
The RACGP has a long history in providing advocacy and support for rural and remote communities. RACGP Rural, the RACGP’s dedicated rural faculty, represents more 16,600 members, including over 7700 GPs practising in rural areas.
The attainment of Fellowship of the RACGP signifies a GP as competent to deliver safe, specialised, and high-quality general practice care in Australia’s metropolitan, rural, remote and very remote communities. For GPs wishing to develop advanced rural skills and give their community a rural advantage, the RACGP offers the Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP).
The RACGP, via its FRACGP and FARGP, offers registrars the flexibility and opportunity to undertake relevant, engaging and appropriate activities that meet their needs and those of the rural community in which they practise.
Applications for AGPT with the RACGP open 10 April 2017.
Visit the RACGP website to find out more about RACGP Rural and the FARGP.
Five steps to help you complete planning learning and need
To assist you in structuring your learning for the 2017–19 triennium, the RACGP has developed the new online planning learning and need (PLAN) quality improvement activity. PLAN is designed to assist you to map out and document your learning needs.
There are five major steps to complete PLAN:
- Complete a practice profile analysis and self-reflection.
- Review the report generated from step one.
- Identify key areas for improvement from the report.
- Complete activities relevant to the key areas.
- Reflect and plan ahead.
To start your PLAN today:
- Log into myRACGP.
- Select myCPD.
- Select PLAN activity.
PLAN supports the needs of all GPs, including those not in active general practice, and allows you to save at any point in the process and resume at a later date. GPs are encouraged to complete the practice profile analysis and self-reflection component early in 2017.
Please view the FAQs or, alternatively, contact your local QI&CPD office for further information regarding PLAN.
Good Practice magazine out now
Key articles from the January–February issue of Good Practice are now available on the RACGP website.
In this month's issue, you can:
- learn more about recent update to the RACGP’s Guidelines for preventive activities in general practice (Red Book), which is now in its 9th edition
- find out how GPs are crucial in efforts towards better outcomes in youth mental health issues throughout rural and remote Australia
- discover how implementing an effective system for data backup and recovery is an essential preventive activity for the health of your practice
- explore how the RACGP’s Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP) offers rural and remote GPs the opportunity to reflect on their abilities and develop further skills to help their communities
- read about Dr Wence Vahala’s continuing family legacy of dedication to general practice.
Visit the RACGP website to read the January–February issue of Good Practice.
Help improve shareGP by participating in a short survey
The RACGP is seeking to better understand how members are, or are not, using shareGP, so it can identify areas for improvement.
This week all members received an email invitation to contribute to the next phase of shareGP. All members are encouraged to complete the 10-minute survey.
Please check your inbox for an email from shareGP containing your unique survey link, or contact sharegp@racgp.org.au for further assistance.
The survey will close Wednesday 1 March 2017.
Register for the RACGP 2017 Clinical Emergency Management Program workshop
Increase your knowledge, skills and confidence in managing life-threatening emergencies with the RACGP Clinical Emergency Management Program (CEMP).
The one-day intermediate CEMP workshop (40 Category 1 QI&CPD points) includes cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) practice and assessment, as well as basic life support (BLS) and advanced life support (ALS). The two-day advanced workshop (80 Category 1 QI&CPD points) will enhance your adult trauma and paediatric emergency skills.
Participants may be eligible for Rural Procedural Grants Program training grants of $2000 a day.
Registrations are now open on the RACGP website. Don’t miss the opportunity to obtain QI&CPD points for the new triennium.
Visit the RACGP website or contact the relevant state faculty for further information.
Clinical pearl
Do not take a swab or use antibiotics to manage a leg ulcer without clinical infection
Lower leg ulcers are most commonly venous and are often treated with antibiotics. However, in the absence of evidence of clinical infection there is no evidence to support antibiotic treatment.
A 2014 Cochrane systematic review found no change in healing rates for antibiotics (with or without swabs) versus placebo or usual care. Clinical infection usually implies cellulitis with pain and swelling, although even those randomised controlled trials which did not exclude infected ulcers did not demonstrate that antibiotics improved healing.
In the absence of clinical infection, taking a swab for microscopy and culture is not recommended. One study of 58 such ulcers found that all 58 grew microorganism species (including staph in 88%, enterococcus 74%, anaerobes 41%, fungi 11%). No association was found between the type of species grown and whether the ulcer size increased, decreased or healed entirely.
Unnecessary swabbing and antibiotics adds to healthcare costs, antimicrobial resistance and patient allergy.
Visit Choosing Wisely Australia for more information.
In Practice poll - Local GP Advocacy Networks
In 2016, we surveyed members on whether we should play a greater role in supporting GP advocacy and engagement at a local level. Most respondents were supportive, given a current lack of opportunities for GPs to connect and engage with other GPs at a local level.
The RACGP is creating opportunities for GPs to engage with other local GPs and discuss areas of mutual interest or concern, in part through tools such as ShareGP. As the peak body of general practice, we want to support the profession and ensure that the local GP voice is not lost within the changing healthcare sector. Engaging with colleagues provides the opportunity for professional growth through access to information and peers. This can result in increased professional satisfaction and a united professional voice.
We are starting to pilot Local GP Advocacy Networks, with the first network being formed in the Hunter region (NSW). This network will connect GPs from across practices in the area through face-to-face and/or online meetings and allow them to share ideas and concerns with peers, as well as the RACGP.
Similar networks will soon be piloted in various metropolitan and regional areas.