We were honoured to have the new National Rural Health Commissioner Professor Jenny May AM join the 2024 RACGP Rural Member Forum as a guest speaker and address members on 26 September. I’d like to sincerely thank Jenny for joining us. The Forum was also a great opportunity to bring members together from around Australia for the annual member meeting and to discuss some of the issues affecting you. If you missed it, you can catch up on the recording online.

Three Government reviews were released earlier this month: Review of General Practice Incentives; Review of After-hours Primary Care Programs and Policy; and Working Better for Medicare Review.
We are pleased that the review panel heeded RACGP calls and recommended maintaining Workforce Incentive Program (WIP) provider funding to further consider the evidence for redirecting it. Rural GPs and practices across the country rely on the WIP being allocated to the clinician as an incentive to help drive our workforce where it is most needed. It’s why they can keep providing care for patients – we know this funding works and we will continue our calls to keep it.

One of the key recommendations is for changes to the District Priority Area (DPA) program to be based on needs in smaller catchment areas rather than the broader Modified Monash Model (MMM) status. We welcome this change but need to see clear guidance on what the new GP catchment areas will be and on the review process as we know our practice owners need stability and reassurance when planning practice viability and recruitment.
 
The review also calls for all training pathways including the Fellowship Support Pathway to have financial, professional, and peer support to match the current Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program, and a bridging program to upskill applicants to meet the entry requirements for the AGPT. We are yet to see the detail, but this is a very promising development that we have been advocating strongly for and we optimistically await more information on how the investment in training will work and what rule changes we might see with AGPT.

We’re looking forward to seeing many of our Rural Faculty in Perth for GP24! If you haven’t yet registered, now’s the time.

With more than 110 speakers over three days, GP24 offers a huge range of presentations, keynotes and workshops tailored to rural GPs, including:

• My rural medical centre wants a GP! 
• What is the value of registrars training in the same rural practice? 
• Keynote: Dr Jenny Brockis | Reimagining practitioner wellbeing
• Emergency medicine for rural GPs (optional full-day workshop)

Plus, there’ll be plenty of opportunities to socialise with peers and colleagues at our welcome function, breakfast symposia and 2024 gala dinner and I hope to see you there.

Explore the program here.
 
Finally, I’m pleased to announce our full Rural Council for the 2024-2025 term below, including remaining as Rural Chair for another two years after being elected back into the role. I’m looking forward to working with our Council members to represent you.

A/Prof Michael Clements
Chair, RACGP Rural

Deputy Chairs Report

Dr Vicki Mattiazzo

I have been invited to participate in a Professional Advisory Group looking at Professional Supports for Rural Doctors. The National Medical Workforce Strategy endorsed by the health minister in 2021 identified the need to reduce barriers and improve incentives for doctors to work in rural and remote communities and that the ‘effectiveness of existing support structures for rural trainees should be evaluated’. 
 
The advisory group is trying to identify the supports out there, including those for International Medical Graduates (IMGs), and look at what is working or not working. If you know of any programs which have been particularly helpful we are keen to hear about them and you can contribute your ideas via this form by the end of October or by email to Deborah Roczo or Hugh Flemming on hughfleming@hma.com.au.
 
We know about big programs such as the Fellowship Support Program (FSP) but there may be programs local to you that we’d like to hear about such as peer support,  employment arrangements, access to training, bursary funding or others.

Rodney Omond
 
Fellowship ceremonies are significant times of celebration as recognition of a great achievement and the often significant commitment of GPs’ family members. I had the honour of representing the Rural Faculty at the Victoria Fellowship Ceremony on 15 September assisting RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins in presenting the rural fellowships.
 
I attended the South Australian ceremony in a different capacity on the 19 October to proudly watch my niece Dr Kimberley Omond be awarded her Fellowship. Congratulations to everyone who has been awarded their Fellowship recently. It is an achievement to celebrate and be proud of.
 
I’m one of the facilitators at RACGP Rural’s upcoming emergency medicine for rural GPs GP24 pre-conference workshop in Perth on Wednesday 20 November. If you’re heading to the conference, we’d love you to join us for this full-day session to explore the critical considerations involved in managing rural emergency cases, packaging patients for retrieval, communicating effectively with retrieval teams, debriefing and self-care. Sign up on the RACGP website.

Your RACGP Rural Council 2024-2025

The Rural Council is the faculty’s key representative and advisory body for issues affecting rural and remote communities.

It is made up of rural and remote GPs from across Australia, Registrar and medical student representatives and provides advice on education, training, quality care, research, general practice advocacy and engagement. It also oversees initiatives that support GPs to provide care to our rural communities.
 
The council promotes the interests of Rural Faculty members to the RACGP and other organisations and is responsible for the development and implementation of College policy affecting the faculty.

Council members also co-ordinate communication and consultation across a broad range of networks, within the College and the region they represent on general practice and other areas which may impact on the profession.

Doctors for Women in Rural Medicine: Update

Our recorded meet-up on Female IMG perspectives is now available on the RACGP website. Don’t miss the opportunity to hear from Dr Dinara Markabullina and A/Prof Ayman Shenouda on the challenges faced by female IMGs working rurally and tips to overcome these. This session includes Dinara’s inspiring story on her own journey as IMG moving from Russia to Australia.

The Doctors for Women in Rural Medicine Committee (DWRM) has been leading collaboration with our colleagues from the Rural Doctors Association of Australia’s (RDAA) Female Doctors Group, the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA), Allied Health Professions Australia (AHPA) and La Trobe Rural Clinical School to jointly advocate on issues affecting the female health workforce in rural Australia. We facilitated an interactive workshop at the National Rural Health Alliance conference in Perth titled; ‘Innovating to attract and sustain women in the rural health workforce.’ The workshop outcomes are currently being collated and written up as both a discussion paper and open-access research and we'll share these as soon as they are available.

We’d love to meet you at GP24 if you’re going to be in Perth! Come and see DWRM Chair Dr Christie Rodda and Deputy Chair Dr Kaylene Girgenti at the RACGP booth from 5.30pm during the welcome reception on Thursday 21 November and introduce yourself. We’ll share further updates about the conference in our Facebook group which you can join here.

Join ACEM's Conjoint Committee of Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Medicine

We are looking for one RACGP member to be appointed to ACEM's Conjoint Committee of Pre-Hospital and Retrieval Medicine (CCPHRM) for the 2024-2026 term of office.

The new representative would start from October 2024. The committee meets four times a year, with additional time sometimes required for subcommittee involvement and exam writing/assessment.
Nominees should be experienced in medical education and training and currently (actively) practicing PHRM.

If interested, please send through your CV to rural@racgp.org.au as soon as possible.

Attend our free monthly Rural Health Webinar Series

The Rural Health webinar series presents free monthly webinars on rural and remote health topics, held on the first Thursday of the month.
 
GPs can participate without leaving their practice or community, with relevant content tailored to their needs

Upcoming sessions
 

Boost your skills with the Rural Procedural Grants Program

Did you know you may be eligible for the Rural Procedural Grants Program (RPGP) if you provide unsupervised procedural and/or emergency medicine services in rural and remote areas classified as MMM3-7? This Department of Health funding enables access to relevant educational activities designed to maintain or enhance procedural and emergency medicine skills.   
 
New program guidelines which include updated eligibility criteria such as overseas activities and continued online activity eligibility, were released in May 2024. You can view these guidelines on our website.
 
If you have any questions about the RPGP, or your eligibility, we’re here to help. The dedicated RPGP team can support you throughout the application or claims process and assist with any queries. Please visit our website,  email the team or give us a call on 1800 636 764 for more information. 

Applications are now open for the 2025 Future Leaders Program. Now is the perfect time to develop your skills and influence the future of general practice. The RACGP Future Leaders Program is designed for those who have some leadership experience but haven’t pursued formal qualifications like an MBA.

It is designed to enhance your leadership knowledge, confidence and skills. Fully funded by the RACGP, it offers 37 CPD hours, including 21 educational activity and 16 reviewing performance activities. Participants receive comprehensive support, including expert guidance from a specialist team and access to essential and contemporary leadership resources online.

It helps you uncover the core values that drive your leadership behaviours and explores strategies to effect positive change in general practice. It equips current and future GP leaders with evidence-based methods, expands their professional network, and fosters innovative ideas.

Applications close 10 November 2024. Apply now.

Complete Focussed Psychological Strategies CPD

To enjoy continued recognition as a registered GP provider of Focussed Psychological Strategies (FPS), you must complete an FPS CPD training activity every triennium following the triennium in which you completed FPS training.
 
Our FPS CPD package supports GPs who are already FPS providers to implement FPS with patients, evaluate their practice and further develop their skills. GPs can earn 9 RP CPD hours.