Welcome to the October and GPET Conference Edition

Dr Christine Ahern - GPET Medical Educator of the Year

Dr Christine Ahern being presented with her award by GPET Chairman Professor Simon Willcock.

Congratulations to NCGPT DoT Dr Christine Ahern on being named 2011 GPET Medical Educator of the year at the recent GPET conference in Canberra. This is an outstanding achievement as Dr Ahern is one of hundreds of GP Medical educators across Australia.

Professor Simon Willcock, the Chairman of GPET presented Christine with her award and highlighted her exceptional and unfailing level of dedication and support to her students and fellow educators as contributing reasons she had been recognised as Medical Educator of the Year. 

“While these qualities make Christine a good medical educator, what makes her exceptional is that she also imparts to registrars a sense of purpose, integrity, and professional respect, with infectious enthusiasm. Her colleagues speak of her sense of humour, her compassion and her commitment to the people around her”, said Professor Willcock.

NCGPT CEO John Langill said the award was a wonderful achievement for both Dr Ahern and NCGPT. 

“Watching Christine receive the award rates as one of the proudest moments in my professional career. It is a reflection of Christine’s enormous contribution to GP training both locally and on a national level and I can’t imagine a more deserving winner. We’ve always known that Christine is something special and now the rest of the Australian medical education community know too”, said John.

Christine has been Director of Training at NCGPT for 7 years and has found the role extremely satisfying.

“The most enjoyable part of my work is meeting and engaging with new registrars, and helping them to grow professionally”, said Dr Ahern, “It is also extremely rewarding to work closely with the GP supervisors who provide most of the teaching and support. Learning to be a GP and indeed being a GP can be very demanding at times, so providing our registrars with good role models and mentors is incredibly important.”

Christine said that while she was thrilled to be named Medical Educator of the Year, the award was a team effort.

“I am incredibly lucky to work with a talented team of a dozen medical educators spread from Port Macquarie to Tweed Heads. They are an extremely dedicated group who together deliver a training program that gives our registrars the very best in clinical, practical and personal GP skills”.

Read the complete NCGPT awards update

Send Christine a congratulations message.

NCGPT wins GPET Training Provider Innovation Award

NCGPT CEO John Langill and GPET Chairman Professor Simon Willcock.  

NCGPT was also awarded the 2011 GPET Training Provider Innovation Award for its practice information brochure that was produced to explain to patients the important role of accredited teaching practices in training the next generation of doctors for our communities.
 

These two awards are the latest in a series of awards won by NCGPT, its trainers and trainees, including the GP Supervisor of the Year award in 2010 and the 2009 Rural Registrar of the Year award. These awards are not only tremendous recognition for NCGPT but they are very important in promoting NCGPT as a quality regional training provider.
 

It is our role to attract junior doctors to the region, and knowing that the quality of the training available on the North Coast is second to none ensures we continue to attract the best and brightest new medical recruits.

Who were the other 2011 GPET award winners? Click here

GPET Convention Update

The 10th annual GPET Convention was held on Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 September at the National Convention Centre Canberra. Related satellite meetings were also held on additional days throughout the week.

The event brought together more than 560 members of the Australian general practice training community to share experiences and knowledge and to workshop solutions to address the challenges facing GP education and training.

The convention was a great success for NCGPT. Apart from taking out two of the seven GPET awards, NCGPT was well represented on the program with Christine Ahern, Hilton Koppe, Kayte Evans and Nicola Foster all presenting papers and/or workshops.

Convention themes and sub-themes, session abstracts and most session presentation slides are available from the GPET website or by clicking here

The Convention kicked off with a Great Debate as part of the Welcome Function in the House of Representatives at Old Parliament House. Two teams battled it out in a heated debate arguing the proposition that "In GP training, size does matter".

Moderated by Prof Doris Young, opposing teams argued their side while buoyed on by cheers and jeers from the crowd. Dr Nam Tran (CSQTC), Dr Steve Myers (CCCT) and Captain Dr Ewa Piejko (BME) made up the affirmative team, with Dr Ed Poliness (Melb Uni), Dr Michael Wilson (NTGPE) and Captain Dr Genevieve Yates (CSQTC) arguing for the negative.

The debaters pulled out all the stops - serenading delegates and wowing them with clever analogies and witty rebuttals - but in the end it was the affirmative team that proved in GP training, size really does matter.
 

As all delegates could not fit into the House of Representatives, the debate was professionally recorded and beamed to the overflow crowd. To view the recording of the Great Debate, click here.

NCGPTs Beach Party - Second in 2021 Election Campaign

Some of the NCGPT Beach Party with their award for being voted 2021 Opposition 

The GPET Convention Dinner was held at Parliament House and in the spirit of the host city and venue, the dinner theme was the 2021 Election Campaign. RTPs formed political parties and campaigned to be voted in as the 2021 Australian Government. NCGPT formed the Beach Party with a loose agenda of promising a beach for ALL Australians in answer to the then state of global warming and sea level rise. Basically we just wanted to wear Hawaiian shirts and dark glasses !!

Thirteen RTPs registered as political parties and pulled out all stops with ferocious campaigning, a frenzy of merchandise, political adverts and smooth talking 'politicians' selling their party's platform. Campaign headquarters provided each party with the opportunity to decorate and spruik their promises.

Voting was conducted by parties collecting tokens from all in attendance. Gerald Hoskins from Durri AMS in Kempsey did an outstanding job in convincing voters to hand over their tokens for NCGPTs Beach Party. Medical educators Deb Kors and Sharon Sykes also managed to procure many tokens but would not reveal their technique.

After a night of wheeling and dealing the P.Inc Party from CSQTC was declared the 2021 Australian Government and awarded the 'key' to the Lodge. NCGPTs Beach Party came in a very close second and was declared the 2021 Opposition. For our trouble we took home a framed pair of bright red budgie smugglers! Gerald Hoskins (Chief Beach Party strategist) accepted the award and roused the audience with his speech.

Part of the election campaign was to produce a 30 second political TV commercial. These were all shown on the night with Tropical Medicine Training (TMT) taking out the Best Advert award for their North Qld Hot Party. NCGPTs lower budget offering was well received by the judges and can be viewed on YouTube by clicking here.

GPET has all the TV commercials, political party agendas and many photos from the night available on their website. Click here to view.

The 2012 GPET Convention will be held in Melbourne on Wednesday 5 and Thursday 6 September.
 

Education Update with Christine Ahern

Christine (front right) at the GPET dinner with members of the NCGPT Beach Party

It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.   - Aristotle

We had nine new GPT1 registrars at our Foundations of General Practice Workshop (formerly known as Basic) in July – including one on rural rotation from Sydney. We also held orientations for all new registrars across the region, in the week beforehand. Welcome to all of you! (see photo in following Who's who article)

We hope that our new registrars, and the medical students who attended, learned how to listen and observe. Some new facts were no doubt gained, but more importantly, a discerning approach was hopefully reinforced for all participants.

The main part of intellectual education is not the acquisition of facts but learning how to make facts live.”  - Oscar Wendall Holmes

The Regional Supervisor Workshop was held in Coffs Harbour over the weekend of August 20th and 21st. There was an excellent attendance and most of the feedback was exceptional. Presenters from outside of the region were popular and able to inject some new ideas and concepts. Frank Meumann again stimulated much reflection and discussion about the important issue of boundary setting for GPs.

A workshop for brand new supervisors was well attended on the Saturday morning preceding the main workshop. It was particularly heartening to see former registrars in this group. Again welcome!

At the dinner, long service awards were announced for Deidre Little from the North Bellingen Practice and Jimmy Chiu from Alstonville Clinic, neither of whom unfortunately were there to receive them. The Supervisor of the Year award was given to John Vaughan, who was deemed to be a very deserving recipient.

All NCGPT Supervisors now have access to the national Medical Educator, STARS site – a most valuable teaching resource. The NCGPT Supervisor teaching plans have been relocated on the same website page for easier access. All Supervisor resources can be found in the teaching-resources section on the NCGPT website at: www.ncgpt.org.au/content/teaching-resources

Thank you to all our supervisors who make the facts live!

If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.  - Henry J. Tillman
 

In other breaking news!

AMS sessional visits as piloted last year in Durri, are being repeated in the Port Macquarie/Kempsey region and extended to Bullinah in Ballina for the northern registrars. I would like to sincerely thank the busy AMS personnel for agreeing to put effort into this important project.

A new home grown ME has been recruited in the mid north coast – Dr Emily Vink. Emily was previously one of our registrars, who is now taking her first steps as a medical educator, and is a welcome addition to the team.

And what a time we had at the GPET Conference ! Many NCGPT staff and associates attended the recent GPET conference in Canberra. Five NCGPT Medical Educators presented three workshops and a paper at the main conference, while two MEs presented workshops at the AMEN – Australian Medical Educator Network – day following the conference. An admirable effort indeed!

I would like to personally thank Steve Blunden from Casino AMS and Gerald Hoskins from Durri in Kempsey for attending the cultural educator and mentor days preceding the conference. Their attendance helped to ensure that NCGPT stays right on track with Aboriginal Health Training and other important aboriginal issues.

Gerald even managed to accept on behalf of NCGPT, complete with acceptance speech, the prestigious opposition award (a framed pair of budgie smugglers) at the conference dinner. Thanks Gerald for stepping up when no other NCGPT participant could be found!

Research!

NCGPT has taken a huge leap in to the world of research!
Three NCGPT MEs have successfully gained grants under the GPET educational integration research program:

• Rob Trigger is conducting a “GPs in Schools” project aimed at providing an adolescent intervention to local high schools and hopefully increasing the teaching capacity of our region. This project is currently looking for medical participants – see the following article for details.

• Peter Silberberg and I will be conducting a grounded research project looking at vertical integration across our region: “An evaluation of existing vertically integrated training practices at North Coast General Practice Training (NCGPT).” Dr C. Ahern, Dr Peter Silberberg, Sabrina Pit, Susan Shaw, Lesley Barclay – June 2011

Supervisor Marc Heyning is also continuing his research into registrar teaching and has held workshops with supervisors and registrars.

Our new Research Director, Thea van de Mortel,  has commenced work to direct these and the workforce mapping project which will give us a picture of training as it is happening across all levels within our region.

With Thea on board and advisory groups comprising staff from SCU and the UCRH in Lismore, we are definitely no longer part of the precipitate!

WANTED - Medical participants for research project

NCGPT is looking for medical participants for a research project.

As part of the previously mentioned "GPs in Schools" research project, NCGPT will run a workshop to develop small group facilitation skills and knowledge on adolescent health issues. This will be followed by a visit to Ballina and Byron Bay High Schools where participants will run some small group education and discussion sessions with year 11 students. Participants will be asked to complete a pre and post intervention questionnaire and provide some feedback on the experience via a focus group interview.

All participants will be reimbursed for the time spent and travel costs, and we will also take participants out to dinner to thank them for their help. We are looking for volunteers to be involved from the following groups: GPs, GP registrars, PGPPP trainees, and medical students.

If you are interested in participating and would like to receive an information sheet on the research project please contact Dr Thea van de Mortel (NCGPT):

Email: theav@ncgpt.org.au
Ph: 02 66815711

SLO Update with John Vaughan

Medical Educators Deb Kors and Sharon Sykes with John Vaughan at the GPET dinner

It was great to catch up with SLO's from all over the country at the recent GPET conference in Canberra. It is a good opportunity to network with so many dedicated SLO's and to hear the unique problems facing supervisors in different geographical locations throughout Australia.

The GPSLON meeting on Tuesday was an opportunity to put concerns about negotiating pay and conditions with registrars directly to GPET. There is no doubt that our voice is being heard and our concerns taken seriously. Unfortunately nothing concrete as yet with respect to standardising registrar wages and conditions. However there is considerable, behind the scenes negotiations being undertaken to try and unify the accreditation process for general practices so that it is all done in one session for registrars, PGPPP's and medical students.

We also had some great updates on the current fellowship exams which have changed considerably since I last looked at them closely. I am endeavouring to obtain a copy of the salient points to pass onto supervisors - I think it will help us all in focussing our teaching and advice to our registrars. There were also excellent presentations on dealing with difficult registrars and this is another area that I would be keen to present to supervisors in the future.

The NGPSA had its AGM and election of executive on the Wednesday morning over breakfast at 7.15am - no sleep ins allowed in the chilly Canberra spring! The NGPSA feels that it now has a strong voice since all supervisors have joined across the country. We now have a membership in excess of 1,000 and this represents a strong cohort when the organisation goes into negotiation with GPRA over terms and conditions later this year. Suffice to say our interests are in sound hands with the committed and energetic executive led by John Emery a country GP from the Victorian side of the Murray river.

So that there is no confusion, I thought I should explain the difference between the GPSLON and the NGPSA. GPSLON is a gathering of SLO's that meet twice a year with GPET funding to discuss supervisor issues and to provide educational content relevant to supervisors that we can hopefully take back to our RTP'S. The NGPSA is really our political wing with no funding from GPET but with a part time secretary funded by the RACGP. This group negotiates with the registrars association and brings supervisor concerns to GPET. I hope this gives the hard working supervisors in NCGPT some idea of the national supervisor scene.

I would also like to take this opportunity to congratulate our DoT, Christine Ahern on her award as national medical educator of the year - an outstanding achievement Christine and very well deserved. On behalf of all the NCGPT supervisors, our hearty congratulations.

John Vaughan
SLO

Who's New ?

Left to Right: Chris Lack, Bianca Sheridan, Jun Zhang, Erin Harten, Shannon Butler, Ali Pierzad, Genevieve Thompson and  Ke Chen at the Term 2 Foundations of General Practice workshop  (Absent from photo Zewlan Moor)

NCGPT extends a very warm welcome to our 9 new registrars who have begun training with us this term.

Chris Lack - Bangalow Medical Centre

Bianca Sheridan - Meadows Medical Centre, Mullumbimby

Jun Zhang - Woolgoolga & Northern Beaches Medical Centre

Erin Harten - Wollumbin Street Medical Centre, Murwillumbah

Shannon Butler - King Street Medical Centre, Murwillumbah

Ali Pierzad - CPC Medical Centre, Port Macquarie

Genevieve Thompson - Goonellabah Medical Centre 

Ke Chen - Keen Street Clinic, Lismore

Zewlan Moor - Grant Street Clinic, Ballina

2011 GPET Registrar Survey Results

Findings

GPET has just released the findings from its 2011 Registrar Satisfaction Survey that most registrars completed a few months back. GPET conducts this annual survey as part of its quality improvement framework. Overall, the survey showed registrars remain highly satisfied with their vocational training and their decision to specialise in general practice.

NCGPT results at a glance:

NCGPT scored above national averages for over 65% of the survey questions including the key questions of;

- All things considered, how satisfied are you with the quality of your training so far? (100% Satisfied or Very Satisfied)
- Are you satisfied with your current training placement? (98% Satisfied or Very Satisfied)
- Workshop satisfaction - Usefulness to your training program? (100% Satisfied or Very Satisfied)
- Satisfaction with support by - Supervisor (100% Satisfied or Very Satisfied)
- Satisfaction with support by - Medical Educator (100% Satisfied or Very Satisfied)
- Satisfaction with support by - Administrative Staff of the RTP (98% Satisfied or Very Satisfied)

Remuneration satisfaction – (registrar bargaining power and ability to negotiate rate of pay), is always a hot topic, and it is pleasing to see there has been a 20% increase in the level of satisfaction with remuneration  in NCGPT registrars over the last year.

NCGPT is currently reviewing its performance in this survey compared with other RTPs and with its results from  last years survey. Such comparisons are part of our quality assurance program and have been very beneficial in the past in helping to identify any trends.

Some of the key NATIONAL findings across the AGPT Program:

- 87 per cent of registrars said they were satisfied with the AGPT program. This is the same result as the 2010 survey.

- In terms of career choice, 88 per cent were satisfied they had made the right decision in pursuing general practice.

- Registrar satisfaction levels with their training placement also remained high, with 90 per cent of registrars showing high satisfaction with their placement.

- Most were satisfied or very satisfied with support provided to them, with 89 per cent indicating satisfaction with support from regional training provider (RTP) staff and supervisors.

- The majority of registrars (94%) agreed or strongly agreed that their training was relevant to their needs and expectations, with 90 per cent finding that their current training placement matched their learning needs.

- Again, the majority of registrars agreed that medical educators were available and accessible (85%) and easy to obtain information from (83%).
 

The full national survey results can be viewed on the AGPT website or by clicking here. 

RLO Profile – Nina Robertson

RLO Nina Robertson (left) with NCGPT Executive Officer Lesley Mitchell at the GPET Dinner

Lismore based Nina Robertson has been a NCGPT RLO since mid this year. As yet we have not profiled Nina in the North Coast Post, so Nina, introduce yourself....

Hi I'm Nina. I'm currently GPT2 registrar at Goonellabah Medical Centre, where I work full time.  I'm based in Tregeagle just outside Lismore, where I live with my more-or-less husband and my two dear children aged 9 and 6.  We bought a fairly old house on an acre of land, and in several moments of weakness acquired 2 dogs and 2 cats along the way. 

On the weekends, I like to go to the beach, cook and repair and replant whatever section of garden the dogs have destroyed during the week.  We are into our 10th month of slowly painting the interior of house in order to transform it's baby blue + beige walls into something moderately more aesthetically pleasing!

I have a reasonably busy life, but I still find the time to put into it my RLO role because not only do I feel passionately about "worker's rights" and various other Left-wing ideals, but also because North Coast GP Training is a great training provider and I'm keen to play a (small) role in making sure it stays the best!

NCGPT Alumni notes

Past NCGPT registrar Sarah McEwan, 2011 University of Newcastle Indigenous Alumni Award winner.

Congratulations to Dr Sarah McEwan who recently received the 2011 University of Newcastle Indigenous Alumni Award. This award follows on from Sarah being awarded both the 2009 National Rural Faculty General Practice Registrar of the Year and the 2010 ACRRM Rural Registrar of the Year. Sarah is currently in Port Headland, Western Australia where she is providing medical care to the remote indigenous communities of that region.

Congratulations also go to past NCGPT registrar Dr Emily Farrel who was recently elected GPRA Chair. Emily is currently completing an academic post at Bond University as an elective at the end of her registrar training. Emily has a strong interest in research and medical education and was the Registrar Research and Development Officer (RRADO) with GPET in 2009.

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NCGPT Registrar Practice Allocation Policy

NCGPT has finalised its policy that addresses the rationale behind, and the process undertaken by NCGPT in matching registrars to accredited teaching practices. It is intended to ensure that NCGPT’s processes are seen as fair, equitable and transparent to both registrars and training practices.

In developing this policy, NCGPT has taken into consideration both the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Standards for General Practice Education and Training (Programs and Providers) 2005. In particular, Standard P26 from the RACGP which states that:

“The general practice training provider must ensure that registrars are supported in securing at least two different general practice placements of high quality during their training.”

The policy can be found in the registrars section of  the NCGPT website or by clicking here.