The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) has announced the Northern Territory General Practice Education (NTGPE) Cultural and Medical Educators as the worthy winner of the RACGP Standing Strong Together Award in 2013.
The Standing Strong Together Award is an award presented by the RACGP National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health acknowledging partnerships between general practitioners (GPs) and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
The NTGPE Cultural and Medical Educators were selected as the award recipients based on the group’s outstanding collaborative work to produce substantial, positive outcomes in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
Presenting the award on the eve of the GP13 conference in Darwin, Associate Professor Brad Murphy, Chair of the RACGP National Faculty of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, congratulated the NTGPE Cultural and Medical Educators on winning the highly prestigious award and thanked the team for their exceptional service to general practice, primary healthcare and the Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
“The efforts of the NTGPE Cultural and Medical Educators recognise that a coordinated and community driven approach is required to meet the challenge of improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“NTGPE’s unique model of intertwined medical and cultural education has ensured that all NTGPE program participants have access to high quality and culturally informed training,” said A/Prof Murphy.
As part of their strategy to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes, NTGPE’s approximately 300 program participants (registrars, prevocational doctors and medical students) undertake a full day of cultural and medical orientation at the beginning of their placement, ongoing educational support and a cultural and medical debriefing at the end of their placement.
A/Prof Murphy highlighted that this coordinated approach, designed to train GPs to make significant inroads into Closing the Gap, has created a robust educational program suitable for doctors working throughout Australia.
“For more than 10 years, NTGPE Cultural and Medical Educators have worked side by side in development, delivery and evaluation of all NTGPE’s education programs. This model of partnership between Medical and Cultural Education teams can easily be transferred to many educational institutions across Australia who are training the future primary healthcare workforce. I commend the NTGPE Cultural and Medical Educators on their terrific work,” A/Prof Murphy said.
Dr Tamsin Cockayne, NTGPE’s Director of Medical and Cultural Education, said receiving this award was a great honour for the team.
“Having come through NTGPE’s training programs myself the dual input from Medical and Cultural Educators was instrumental in developing my skills to work effectively in Aboriginal Health,” she said.
“Over NTGPE’s 10 year history, the commitment from all our Cultural and Medical Educators has ensured that program participants have received early and ongoing exposure to the importance of culture in every aspect of being a doctor and part of the primary healthcare team.
“Our Medical and Cultural Educators continue to ensure NTGPE’s programs deliver high quality education and resulting in tangible outcomes for our local communities,” said Dr Cockayne.
Further information on the 2013 RACGP Award categories can be found at www.racgp.org.au/awards.