Abstracts are displayed in order of program and excluding Symposium Abstracts.
Concurrent Sessions 2B –2F
CONSTRUCTING A PRACTICE MANAGERS' EDUCATION FRAMEWORK THAT CONTRIBUTES TO VET QUALIFICATIONS
Mrs Sharon Flynn, TBA RTP to be invited, TBA subject to acceptance of proposal
CCCT
The CoastCityCountry Training Practice Managers’ Education Framework has been designed to: ensure practice managers participating in CCCT workshops are receiving training which contributes toward nationally recognised qualifications - Diploma or Certificate in Business (Frontline Management) and/or Diploma of Practice Management
Experienced Practice Managers are also encouraged to have their competencies assessed (Recognition of Current Competency) as a pathway to being awarded the Diploma or Certificate using the Candidates’ Toolkit and Evidence Guide administered by CCCT and its Partner RTO.
This workshop will demonstrate: how to:
Structure Workshop Related Assessment (worksheets and learning objectives)
Develop Supporting Statements (formal documentation) for assessment
Assist Supervisors/Practices in developing Supporting statements
Assist Practice managers’ in developing functional cvs
Underpinning this concept is RTP commitment to increasing practice manager participation in the management and delivery of practice-based education to ensure that Supervisors are not required to take the administrative load.
The workshop will also consider some examples of PM contribution to in practice teaching.
In a vertically integrated practice environment scheduling and planning formal teaching is a task that can no longer be undertaken in an ad hoc manner
Should this abstract be successful Ms Jenny Finauer (PM) and Angela Rey (RTO representative) plus another RTP with a similar approach will be engaged to co deliver the workshop
A PRACTICAL INTRODUCTION TO WEBCONFERENCING
Dr Bill Lang
CSQTC
Structure: As a genuine ‘education in action’ workshop, rather than a ‘talk about webconferencing’, participants will use their own computer to join an interactive webconference from whichever location they choose – hotel room, coffee shop, conference lobby. Pre-registration will be necessary to ensure each computer has appropriate hardware and software capabilities before the day of the webconference.
NB No physical room will need to be allocated by conference organizers for this session.
Target Group:
Medical Educators and others with an interest in webconferencing but little or no experience.
Content: Novice webconferencers will be introduced to the teaching/learning medium by participating in a structured, interactive session involving use of short prepared PowerPoint presentations, whiteboard activities, a quiz with immediate feedback, resource sharing and a live web tour, facilitated by a Medical Educator with practical, current experience.
Learning objectives:
At the conclusion of this session, participants will have experienced the various capabilities of the webconferencing medium live had an opportunity to have questions regarding the practical application of the technology answered exchanged ideas for its use in their particular environments.
ART AND THE ART OF MEDICINE
Dr George Zaharias
VMA
The art of medicine is more than just good bedside manner and the employment of technical skills that have been refined with experience. Every doctor has personal qualities and attributes which find their expression in a very unique manner in the doctor-patient interaction. This workshop will use specific works of art to explore the following questions:
What is the art of medicine?
Can the art of medicine be taught?
How can doctors grow as individuals and as professionals?
How can the passion for General Practice be sustained?
REFLECTING ON TEACHING IN THE AUSTRALIAN GENERAL PRACTICE TRAINING PROGRAM: USING DISCOURSE ANALYSIS TO FRAME THE INTERACTION
Dr Tim Senior 1,3, Prof Chris Candlin2, Prof Tim Usherwood 3, Ms Catherine O'Grady 2, Dr Sally Candlin 2, Dr Colin Gunter 1
1 Wentwest Limited, 2 Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University, 3 Western Clinical School, University of Sydney
Learning objectives
At the end of this workshop participants will
Understand key concepts of framing and voice in discourse analysis
Have discussed a video of registrar teaching using discourse analysis as a frame
Have reflected on their own teaching strategies using insights generated in the workshop.
The interaction between doctor and patient has been widely studied and taught using reflection on videoed consultations. Discourse analysis is one of the theoretical frameworks that has provided insight into the communication strategies used in this context. WentWest teamed up with the University of Sydney Western Clinical School and Maquarie University Department of Linguistics to use these techniques to look at the process of teaching General Practice registrars as a way of reflecting on our own teaching in a series of seminars.
This workshop will give participants the opportunity to experience one of these seminars. The first part will introduce participants to two key concepts from discourse analysis, framing and voice. This will be introduced by expert discourse analysts (CC & CO’G). The group will then watch part of a video of a teaching session between a teacher and a registrar. The video will be discussed by group participants with particular reference to the concepts that were introduced earlier. Participants will be invited to reflect on the implications of these concepts and the discussion of the video for their own teaching and for teacher development programs for experienced health professionals. The workshop itself will be videoed for subsequent analysis.
TEACHING MEDICAL STUDENTS: HOW THE ROYAL AUSTRALIAN COLLEGE OF GENERAL PRACTITIONERS (RACGP) QUALITY ASSURANCE AND CONTINUING DEVELOPMENT (QA&CPD) PROGRAM IS SUPPORTING TEACHERS OF MEDICAL STUDENTS
Ms Olga Makripoulias
Royal Australian College Of General Practitioners
The RACGP’s QA&CPD Program, for the 2008 – 2010 Triennium, aims to support the continuing education of GP’s in Australian general practices. As such, the QA&CPD Program is constantly evolving to acknowledge, incorporate and sustain the work that GPs do in teaching prevocational medical students.
Consistent with the principle journey of general practice, the teaching of medical students has undergone change in recent times and now emphasises active learning, particularly around the key principles of the processes and requirements involved in life long education.
The Fellows and members of the RACGP are a valuable resource in teaching and training the future of Australia’s general practice profession (Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine Assessment Program Information Booklet 2008D). The RACGP is committed to ensuring that GP teachers are supported in their efforts to educate medical students as well as providing sufficient opportunity to develop their own skills through continuing professional development.
The ‘Guidelines for the Supervision of Medical Students in General Practice’ (2007) states that supervisors should ‘participate in documented continuing professional development aimed at improving performance as a general practice educator’.
Aiding this end, the RACGPs QA&CPD unit has developed an Active Learning Module (ALM), which formally acknowledges and rewards individual learning and continuing education occurring for general practitioners who teach medical students.
The proposed workshop for the GPET convention is an adaptation of this ALM activity, providing guidance to GPs about how they can submit an application for QA&CPD points for the learning they do in the role as a teacher of medical students.
The workshop will also provide further information and extend skills GPs can utilise to be an effective teacher, facilitating learning of the student that is of a high standard, improving the knowledge gained and therefore improving the students services to the general practice profession as they become vocationally recognised.
HELPING GP REGISTRARS GET IT RIGHT - IMPROVED MEDICARE ORIENTATION
Dr Robert Menz
Medicare Australia
Understanding the Medicare and Pharmaceutical Benefits Schemes can be daunting for new health professionals, like GP Registrars.
Medicare Australia is improving its Medicare and PBS orientation program by developing a new learning model for new health professionals that will provide a more efficient, flexible and accessible learning experience.
The new model includes three levels of learning:
eLearning to provide an introduction to the Medicare and PBS Schemes – eLearning is easy to use, self paced and interactive.
eSeminars focussing primarily on Medicare. The eSeminars will provide GP Registrars with the opportunity to extend their knowledge six months into their professional training program.
Advanced eLearning programs – this is an extension of the basic introductory training. These programs allow health professionals to review their understanding of Medicare and PBS and test their knowledge through self assessment.
eLearning will equip GP Registrars with the core skills and knowledge to become ‘practice ready’ from the start of their practice training.
Medicare Australia’s presentation/s will incorporate a “tour” of our online e learning initiatives and resources (eg quick reference guides) for MBS and PBS as well as informing Registrars of how and when to seek advice and clarification from Medicare Australia as they progress towards Fellowship.
A TURNING POINT FOR ONLINE SUPPORT FOR RACGP COLLEGE EXAM CANDIDATES AT GPLEARNING – PAST EXPERIENCE AND FUTURE CHALLENGES
Dr Ronald McCoy, Dr Ronald McCoy, Dr Kaye Atkinson, Ms Kim Collins, Dr Morton Rawlin
Gplearning, RACGP
The Exam Support Online (ESO) program was established in 2006 by gplearning, the online learning service of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. The ESO is designed to give candidates enrolling for the College Examination, practical experience of what might be expected in the RACGP Examination. The ESO program comprises nine learning activities: a user's guide, six (6) modules and two timed online practice exams. Changes in the College Exam (in particular decoupling of the AKT from the KFP exam), and new paths to general practice for international medical graduates now present new challenges to this program. This presentation reviews the ESO program establishment, development and evolution, future directions, as well as information on candidate use of the ESO, and its role as a tool to help candidates prepare for the College exam.
LINKING LIKE MINDS: DELIVERING MENTAL HEALTH SKILLS TRAINING TO RURAL AND REMOTE DOCTORS.
Dr Louise Stone 1, Dr Rebekah Doley, Prof Geoff Riley
1 Australian College Of Rural And Remote Medicine, 2 Australian College Of Rural And Remote Medicine, 3 Australian College Of Rural And Remote Medicine
Rural and remote practitioners provide a broad and complex range of care, and often feel professionally isolated. They are less able to share the care of their patients across multidisciplinary teams, and describe gaps in their professional support networks and educational opportunities.
Although it is always possible to attend courses in distant locations, rural practitioners tell us that these urban-based educational opportunities lack the opportunity to discuss their learning needs with practitioners who share their unique contextual perspective.
In the past it has been difficult to design a program that meets the needs of rural practitioners for mental health skills development. Whilst it is relatively simple to share information “about” mental health, it is difficult to imagine how skills may be taught and shared in an online context.
In 2008, ACRRM received Commonwealth funding to design and deliver a mental health skills program to rural and remote doctors using innovative software called “Elluminate”. One of the goals of the course was to create a community of practice; a meeting of like minds.
Through the design, delivery and evaluation of this course, we have discovered some key conceptual frameworks that underpin best practice in this form of distance learning. At the end of this session, we hope that participants will be able to describe the key features of good distance education design, and be more able to adapt existing educational material to innovative distance delivery methods.
Paper Presentation Session 2G
TRAINING MEDICAL STUDENTS IN GENERAL PRACTICE: AN ACTIVE LEARNING MODULE FOR SUPERVISORS
Dr Andra Dabson 1, Dr Nerida Paterson 1, Ms Carmel Northwood 2
1 Discipline Of General Practice, 2 General Practice Training - Valley to Coast
Introduction/background There are significant pressures to increase the amount of clinical teaching of medical students in general practice because of the increased number of students and the relatively fixed amount of clinical teaching placements available in teaching hospitals.
Informal needs assessment has shown that General Practitioners are generally willing to take students on placements but are time poor, feel a need for training to improve their clinical teaching skills and are sometimes nervous about making mistakes with students who come from increasingly diverse cultural backgrounds. Practical solutions to the problems of integrating teaching with an increasingly demanding clinical load may help the sustainability of undergraduate teaching in General Practice.
Innovation The Discipline of General Practice at the University of Newcastle, in conjunction with General Practice Training - Valley to Coast, has developed an Active Learning Module (ALM) for GPs who supervise students, which addresses both the GPs requests for training and some of their continuing medical education requirements. This ALM has been accredited by the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and completed by the initial group of GP Supervisors. The content of the ALM includes sections on patient and student safety in GP clinical placements, efficient and effective teaching of students in a time-poor environment and cross-cultural teaching skills. This paper will present the development and early evaluation of the Active Learning Module.
Evaluation The first group of participants in the ALM have completed the module. As part of the evaluation required for an ALM, data have been collected on the participants’ perceptions of this learning experience, how it has affected their clinical practice and teaching, and how they believe the ALM might be modified to enhance its usefulness.
This evaluation may affect formatting of the ALM for future groups of participants locally, for distant delivery to the University of Newcastle’s rurally based General Practice Supervisors (including those involved in our Joint Medical Program (JMP) at the University of New England), and potentially for groups of General Practice Registrars who may be involved in the teaching of medical students on general practice placements.
GP PROCEDURALISTS: THE “HIDDEN HEART” OF RURAL AND REGIONAL HEALTH IN AUSTRALIA
Dr Marian Robinson
Bogong Regional Training Network
Background: GP proceduralists (GPPs) are crucial to the sustainability of rural health services. Consequently, an understanding of the landscape of GPP practice is essential for strategic health service planning. This paper presents empirical data from a 2008 study into GPP practice in the Bogong region. It examines the demand for and supply of a GPP workforce for our rural communities now and in the future.
Methodology:
A questionnaire and structured interviews with GPPs, hospital CEOs and DHS were employed to explore three research questions:
What procedures are being performed by GPPs in health services in the Bogong region?
What procedures are no longer performed and why?
What is the likely future of GPP practice in the next five to ten years?
Results: The GPP landscape has altered substantially over the past 20 years. Fragmentation of the health system has contributed to considerable systemic barriers to GPP practice. The existence of a viable GPP workforce in many towns in the Bogong catchment is at the tipping point. Nevertheless, the demand for GPP services remains strong and there is potential for robust and challenging workloads in procedural medicine for GPs.
Conclusions: GP proceduralists are the ‘hidden heart’ of the health system and a vital link in community infrastructure. Attracting, skilling and retaining them is fundamental to quality health care in rural communities. As governments review the health system there are opportunities to build on the strengths of GP procedural practice and work towards an holistic approach to GPP practice.
EVALUATING THE RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN REGISTRARS AND SUPERVISORS
Dr Stephen Loftus
Charles Sturt University
The relationships that develop between registrars and their supervisors are an important part of preparing people for the world of general practice. A good relationship can lay the foundation for a satisfying career in this branch of medicine. This paper reports on a research project that explored these relationships from the perspectives of both registrars and supervisors with a focus on rural settings using interview data. The findings shed light on the nature of rural general practice. For example, there can be a tension between registrars with their hearts set in the city and supervisors who are committed to rural practice. The findings were then developed into a questionnaire that can be used, either online or on paper, to assess the quality of these trainer/trainee relationships. Such a questionnaire allows registrars to give full and frank feedback to regional training providers about how they perceive the relationships they have developed with their supervisors.
THE INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL GRADUATE SUPERVISOR
Ms Jane Anderson-Wurf 1, Professor Louis Pilotto 2
1 UNSW Rural Clinical School, 2 UNSW Rural Clinical School
Changes in the composition of Australian medical workforce have seen an increasing number of International Medical Graduate (IMG) doctors completing FRACGP or FACRRM registration. The role of supervisor within the medical profession assumes that senior practitioners are responsible for the supervision and training of their more junior colleagues. The IMG GP Supervisors have a role in teaching as do the IMG registrars and this presents opportunities and challenges for the development of their teaching skills.
Purpose/objectives: A project was developed within the CoastCityCountry Training region with the aim to:
explore the progression of International Medical Graduates into a supervisory and/or teaching role; identify any specific needs of this cohort and
identify any challenges that may arise for this group of medical supervisors and teachers.
Methods: A systematic literature review was undertaken and a focus group was held with International Medical Registrars currently working in rural and remote locations in south western NSW.
Results:
The factors influencing positive outcomes in supervision raised by the IMG doctors during the focus group were consistent with those identified in the literature. These included: the quality of the supervisory relationship, availability of the supervisor, the structure and content of teaching sessions, sufficient time, delivery of feedback and input from the trainee.
However, other issues were identified specific to the needs of the IMG supervisor, including the impact upon the supervisory relationship if the participants were from different ethnic, social, educational or linguistic backgrounds. IMG doctors articulated their need for professional development to maintain clinical currency, development of explicit teaching skills, understanding of different teaching and learning styles, ongoing mentoring and cultural training opportunities.
FOCUSSING ON THE USER - TRANSLATING THE RACGP CURRICULUM INTO THE REAL WORLD
Associate Professor Lyn Clearihan 1
1 Victorian Metropolitan Alliance, 2 Monash University
In 2008 the RACGP released its revised curriculum for general practice with almost 600 learning objectives in the public domain and more to come. It is anticipated that this will form the basis of the FRACGP examination from 2010 onwards. The revisions to the curriculum have been comprehensive and reflective of the breadth and depth of general practice; however it is far from user friendly from a teaching and learning perspective.
This paper discusses the process and the outcomes of the Victorian Metropolitan Alliance’s approach to translating this curriculum into a coherent document with a focus on our end users – our educators, our supervisors and our registrars. The process has been iterative and inclusive of the people who will eventually be either the recipients of it or the teachers. It has been underpinned by the need to reduce volume without losing detail or important content.
The process has produced four separate documents, each with a different audience – the provider policy makers; the educators; the supervisors and the registrars. While each has a different focus and a slightly different purpose they have resulted from a common process and are connected by that process.
This has relevance for other RTPs seeking to find a user friendly method of tackling the RACGP curriculum, with the opportunity for other RTPs to either modify the process or the outcomes, to suit their own individual needs.
THE GENERAL PRACTICE REGISTRAR CLINICAL ENCOUNTER (GPRICE) STUDY – USING LONGITUDINAL PATIENT ENCOUNTER DATA TO ENHANCE LEARNING
Dr Simon Morgan 1, Dr Parker Magin 2
1 GP Training Valley To Coast, 2 GP Training Valley To Coast
Background Clinical encounters are the core learning activity of general practice training in Australia. Ideally, the content of each registrar’s clinical experience during training should be similar to that of vocationally registered GPs. However, in reality, the ‘curriculum walks through the door’, with exposure to different patient demographics and presentations highly variable from one registrar to another.
Objectives To design and implement a longitudinal clinical encounter system to record and analyse the nature of clinical and educational experiences of general practice registrars.
Method The GPRICE Study will comprise a paper-based recording of consultation data, and coding using ICPC2 PLUS. Data will include details about the consultation, patient demographics, reasons for encounter, problems managed, and management. Additionally, registrars will record educational factors related to the encounter, including supervision, learning goals and confidence. The study will be longitudinal, following the clinical exposure of each registrar over time.
Discussion The study will strongly enhance the delivery of vocational training in a number of ways. By allowing a comparison of clinical exposure between registrars, stages of training and practices, and against indicators of best practice, it will act as a formative assessment tool and help identify and address educational needs and gaps.
The study will allow better articulation of educational programs with practice experiences, and provide a further mechanism for program evaluation and quality assurance. The study will also provide a ready platform for high quality registrar research activities and a variety of other research projects.
