GP MAGICMeasuring and Growing

Inherent Capacity in General Practice

Dr Jan RadfordDr Lizzi ShiresDr Emma WarneckeMrs Michelle Horder

What is GP MAGIC?

GP MAGIC was established as a first step towards

a Tasmania wide effort to systematically measure

and grow the capacity of Tasmania general

practice to train GPs and other medical learners

along the vertical continuum.

Why do we need GP MAGIC?

Tasmania has an ageing GP population

Tasmania’s patient population is ageing faster than the rest of

Australia

Increased intake of medical students requiring placements

To collect data to inform policy

To encourage students to consider General Practice as a career

What have we done so far?

Literature Review

Surveyed all Tasmanian General Practitioners

Undertaken focus group interviews with General Practitioners

Initial analysis of survey results

Snapshot of Survey Responses

Survey sent to 570 General Practitioners in Tasmania

377 (66%) General Practitioners completed the survey

Of the 377 responses 262 (70%) consented to follow up

Focus groups to date have been undertaken with 51 GPs

representing 15 general practices in Northern Tasmania

Snapshot of Survey Results

The majority of GPs are interested in having PGPPP Junior Doctors or GP

Registrars in their practice

91% of the 377 respondents saw teaching and supervision as their

professional duty

83% of respondents hoped to inspire learners to consider General

Practice as a career

Snapshot of Survey Results…(cont)

71% of respondents did not see the financial benefits to teaching as an

incentive

34% of respondents were interested in increasing their skills in teaching

and supervision

Snapshot of Focus Group Interviews

The majority of practices would like to take extra learners but require

additional infrastructure before this is possible

The current workforce shortage is preventing many practices from

taking on additional learners

Practices who have been involved with the PGPPP or Registrar program

would like a continual flow of these learners

Almost every practice had at least one practitioner who was interested

in reducing their patient load to undertake a key role supervising

learners if the remuneration was adequate

Snapshot of Focus Group Interviews (cont)

Most General Practitioners teach because of a “love of the profession”

not for monetary gain

General Practitioners recognise the need for learners to have their own

room to see patients

General Practitioners unanimously agreed they would like a “one stop

shop” accreditation process

Where to from here?

Undertake focus group interviews throughout the remainder of

Tasmania

Expand the project to include nursing learners within the General

Practice setting

Develop and implement training programs for General Practitioners

interested in improving their teaching and supervision skills

Work with other accreditation bodies to develop a “one stop shop”

accreditation process across all levels of learners

Where to from here?

Continue to support General Practices with assistance and advice on

infrastructure grants

Prepare submissions to the Federal Government to support the need for

additional funding in General Practice

Discussion

Any questions?