April 2019

‘What have the Romans ever done for us?’

Rather than the Romans, this is a question often asked of the RACGP and one that I have often asked myself. While I have been a long-standing member of the RACGP for decades, I’ve only recently become very actively involved and realised just how much the RACGP does for the general practice profession and its members.

The RACGP provides:

• recognition of general practice as a speciality
• vocationally registered rebates
• The Red Book, Silver Book, White Book etc
• strong training scheme
• Standards of general practice
• strong advocacy
• consultation with government and other major decision-makers.

The list goes on and on.

I personally consult RACGP intellectual property daily to support decisions, whether it be the Red Book or when I conduct a Google search for medical questions and find myself at an Australian Journal of General Practice (AJGP) article.

In recent months, RACGP Queensland has:

• promoted general practice at Parliament House (pictured: myself and fellow Queensland Council member, Dr Krystyna de Lange)
• advocated strongly on mandatory reporting
• advocated strongly on pharmacy prescribing in Queensland
• run Fellowship exam preparation workshops
• run education workshops, webinars and active learning modules (ALMs) all around the state
• promoted general practice to prevocational and hospital doctors.
• worked with Queensland Health to promote real-time prescription monitoring.

And again, so much more.

RACGP Queensland has a team of dedicated staff and GP committees who volunteer their time to support general practice as a profession and I thank them for their hard work. General practice is an extremely important and rewarding career – we need to get that message out and continue to support GPs.

In response to requests from flood-affected North Queensland registrars, RACGP Queensland will be running a special Applied Knowledge Test (AKT) and Key Feature Problem (KFP) exam preparation workshop in Townsville on Saturday 11 May 2019. Please visit the RACGP pre-exam courses page for more details and registration.

The RACGP is modernising and increasing its focus on supporting its members. In Queensland, we intend to be leaders in improving our service to our membership.

I will be running a ‘Festival of ideas’ session in the lunch break on day one of the 61st Clinical Update Weekend and look forward to hearing members’ ideas on how we can make the RACGP your college.

This brings me to one last plug for the upcoming Clinical Update Weekend; it is a great opportunity to catch up with friends and colleagues, old and new, as well as stay up to date on a range of clinical and business topics.

If you haven’t had a chance to register, check out the program, and hopefully, I will see you there.

Cheers, 

Dr Bruce Willett
RACGP Queensland Chair

61st Clinical Update Weekend	Friday and Saturday 3–4 May 2019	Brisbane
Obesity pharmacotherapy options (Obesity webinar series)	Wednesday 29 May 2019	Webinar
CPR workshop	Tuesday 4 June 2019	Brisbane
Introduction to point-of-care ultrasound for GPs workshop (In collaboration with RACGP Rural and the Rural Doctor’s Association of Queensland)	Thursday 6 June 2019	Cairns
Bariatric surgery (Obesity webinar series)	Wednesday 12 June 2019	Webinar
Focussed psychological strategies for GPs (Psychodynamic principles – Part 2)	Saturday 15 June 2019	Gold Coast
CPR workshop	Tuesday 9 July 2019	Brisbane
Lifestyle interventions (Obesity webinar series)	Wednesday 10 July 2019	Webinar
Psychodynamics principles workshop – Part 3	Saturday 27 July 2019	Brisbane
Fellowship and Awards Ceremony	Friday 9 August 2019	Townsville
2019 Member Meeting	Friday 9 August 2019	Townsville
Fellowship and Awards Ceremony	Friday 30 August 2019	Brisbane
New Fellows hot topics	Saturday 7 September 2019	Brisbane

Registration is currently open for the above linked events. Bookmark the Queensland events page to keep up to date with education and networking events across Queensland.

Wednesday 5 June 2019

In collaboration with RACGP Rural and the Rural Doctor’s Association of Queensland, RACGP Queensland is offering GPs the chance attain practical experience in ultrasound at a full-day workshop.

Following an introduction by a GP ultrasound expert, participants will rotate through five skills workstations to learn basic ultrasound techniques in the areas of obstetrics, musculoskeletal medicine, deep vein thrombosis, intravenous therapy and extended focused assessment with sonography in trauma (eFAST).

This is your chance to gain hands-on experience with advanced, high-end mobile ultrasound equipment provided by our sponsor, Sonosite, across a number of diverse diagnostic applications.

More information and registration.

The Queensland New Fellows Committee started the year acknowledging the contribution of outgoing members and welcoming in four new members, three of whom practise rurally. We continue to strive to meet the expressed needs of new Fellows and translate them into accessible, effective education, networking events and resources. We are only limited by our ideas and participation – I want to stress that there is much potential for this group. We want all registrars to be aware of new Fellows activities so they can jump on board the minute their Fellowship arrives.

On Saturday 9 March, the first of our three face-to-face events for the year, the Business and careers information symposium was held in Brisbane. This event, refined over three years based on your feedback, reflected the most requested business and career topics by new Fellows. More than ever, GPs want to know how to thrive in the current environment, where Medicare rules are detailed, patient needs are complex and technology is rapidly changing. Wonderfully, as always, new Fellows have high expectations and the drive to make things better.

Planning is underway for our next events – 'Hot topics' in September and our final event in November (still in concept stage) is a creative expression of what it means to be a well GP, involving the arts, sports and other activities.

There is still time to shape this one so let us know what you want!

2019.1 OSCE	Saturday 25 May 2019
2019.2 KFP	Friday 19 July 2019
2019.2 AKT	Saturday 20 July 2019

If you are interested in becoming an examiner for the 2019.2 OSCE, the RACGP Queensland Examinations team would like to hear from you. 

For more information, email qld.exam@racgp.org.au or call 07 3456 8944. Alternatively, download and submit the application form.

You may have relocated interstate or overseas, changed phone numbers or reduced your work hours to spend time with family.

To further help us provide a tailored membership service, please let us know if your working circumstances will be different for the upcoming 2019–20 financial year.

Log in to your RACGP account to update your details today.

Applications for the 2020 intake of the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program are now open for junior doctors who wish to train towards a career in general practice.

The RACGP is recognised as a leader in the provision of general practice education and training, supporting more than 23,000 GPs with achieving Fellowship since 1958.

The government-funded training program provides the training doctors require to achieve general practice Fellowship and gain specialist registration. The AGPT Program comprises three to four years of full-time training held in metropolitan, rural, remote and very remote locations in Australia.

Download the RACGP’s Selection guide to learn about the application and selection process, and where training as a GP can take you.

Applications close at 10.00 am AEST, Monday 29 April. To apply, visit the RACGP AGPT website.

Nominate your peers for an RACGP award for their exceptional work in general practice. The RACGP Awards celebrate the important contribution GPs make to the health of patients and communities across Australia. Nominations are now open for all state-based and honorary awards.
 
To help you engage with your community, the RACGP has developed support materials, including social media images, an email signature banner and a poster to promote nominations for your GPs and practice.

To access the materials and for further information, visit the RACGP Awards webpage.

This year, RACGP Foundation is proud to offer 16 research grants and awards to GPs and registrars. With the support of our funding partners, RACGP Foundation is able to provide these vital research grants each year. The research conducted by the recipients of RACGP Foundation grants contribute to advancing medical achievements within the general practice community.

You could play a vital role in shaping the health of Australia.

Online applications are now open and will close on Monday 6 May 2019.

RACGP Foundation is where general practice research begins.

The overwhelmingly popular clinical sessions will return to GP19. These will cover a variety of topics relevant to you.

Some of the topics on the GP19 program include:

• dermatology
• ophthalmology
• radiology
• pain management
• and many more.

Find out more about the sessions on offer by visiting the GP19 website.

As a part of holistic care, GPs can achieve effective symptom management for community-based palliative patients through anticipatory prescribing for end-of-life symptoms and by involving carers in symptom management.

Free resources applicable across Australia to support GPs:

• Guidelines for the handling of medicines in the community. Developed by NPS MedicineWise
• A consensus-based list of medicines suitable for managing terminal symptoms. Developed by Australia and New Zealand Society of Palliative Medicine (ANZSPM)
• palliMEDS app. Based on the ANZSPM list and developed by NPS MedicineWise
• Resources GPs and nurses can use to train carers to help manage breakthrough symptoms safely using subcutaneous medicines.

Visit the Caring at home project website.

*Advertisement.

Queensland Health has advised that the Queensland pelvic mesh service is now accepting referrals from GPs for women experiencing complications from pelvic mesh (also known as transvaginal mesh).

The service was developed to assist women who have experienced pelvic mesh-related complications, chronic pelvic pain, mesh exposure, infection, bleeding, dyspareunia, incontinence, bladder and bowel perforation, and difficulty with sitting and walking.

More information is available on the Queensland pelvic mesh service website.