August has been a busy month here at RACGP Rural and I’ve been enjoying working with the Faculty as Acting Chair whilst Michael continues his campaign as part of the RACGP President Election process.

We've seen a flurry of activity recently as State governments continue to expand the scope of pharmacists, with Queensland announcing an expansion of the Hormonal Contraception Pilot and Western Australia committing to expanding the role of pharmacists so they can treat conditions such as shingles, acne, dermatitis, musculoskeletal pain and inflammation, nausea and wound management. We’ve strongly advocated against these scope expansions, letting State governments know that diagnosis is complex and requires over 10 years of training, with GPs best placed to treat patients if safety is to truly be upheld and prioritised. As I noted last month, our advocacy efforts are strengthened by your involvement. Please consider signing up to our GP Advocate Network to ensure your voice is heard.

The event space has also kept us busy this month. Our rural training team recently showcased the benefits of rural training and life in New South Wales communities of Inverell, Moree, Griffith, Deniliquin and Broken Hill with the hopes of encouraging more GP registrars to take up training in rural regions.

We also have the 2024 RACGP Rural Member Forum fast approaching, which is a free event held online on Thursday 26 September 2024 from 7.30pm AEST. As well as being an opportunity to network with peers and Rural Council members, Professor Jenny May AM, the new National Rural Health Commissioner, will be there on the evening as our special guest speaker. Registrations for the event are available here and I really encourage you all to attend.

Finally, RACGP Rural has various online educational activities coming up in the next few months, which are a great way to build up your CPD points and refresh your skills. Upcoming workshops include FPS-CPD case-based discussions; online emergency medicine for rural GPs; online focused psychological skills training; and CBT skills in general practice. Further details can be found under the ‘events’ section of the newsletter.


Dr Rodney Omond
Acting Chair, RACGP Rural

Deputy Chairs Report

Dr Vicki Mattiazzo

I have been continuing my conversations with RACGP Rural and Rural Workforce Agencies (RWAs) looking at a re-invention of the previous Practice to Practice model which saw urban practices partnering with rural practices to share skills and support, whilst also alleviating rural workforce issues. I would be really happy to be contacted by anyone who was involved in the program for comments and feedback. Essentially, we are looking at models which may support urban-based GPs partner with a rural practice on return basis. This may interest those who used to work rural and miss it, those who want to give it a go but are not ready to make a move, or those who are at a point in their career where they have increased mobility and would like to engage in rural work. We are looking at ways to facilitate partnerships and support interested GPs in mentoring and training.

I also attended a webinar run by the Department of Health and Aged Care (DoHAC) in relation to the GP Incentives Review consultation briefing paper. Essentially, the recommendations are supportive of a blended funding model to support multidisciplinary primary health care teams to improve access and continuity of care. Under these recommendations, the WIP Doctor Stream payment will no longer be paid to the doctor but to the practice who will use it towards building the team.  We were reassured during the webinar that rural and remote practices will receive loading to reflect increased costs and difficulties associated with rural operations. I think that the model is aspirational but is doomed to fail unless there is a rural workforce to implement it. Strengthening our rural GP workforce should be a key focus, and something we will continue to advocate for. Personally, I cannot see how reducing my income will be helpful in this regard.

It is worth noting that these are only draft recommendations and must still be reviewed by the government before they are officially accepted or rejected. The RACGP will also be preparing a formal submission in response to the paper.  

Boost your skills with the Rural Procedural Grants Program

The Rural Procedural Grants Program (RPGP) is a Department of Health program administered by the RACGP. It provides financial assistance to GPs who provide procedural and/or emergency medicine services in unsupervised settings in rural and remote areas MMM3-7. 
 
This funding enables access to relevant educational activities aimed at maintaining or updating procedural and/or emergency medicine skills.

New program guidelines that reflect revised activity eligibility arrangements, including overseas activities and the continuation of online activity eligibility, were released in May 2024 and are available for viewing on our website as well as the Department of Health and Aged Care Rural Procedural Grants Program website.
 
Please visit our website for more information and details on how to register.

Doctors for Women in Rural Medicine

The Doctors for Women in Rural Medicine (DWRM) committee’s August online member meet-up will feature a great discussion on female IMG perspectives. There’s still time to join us this evening from 7.30pm AEST to hear from special guests Dr Dinara Markhabullina, who has worked in rural NSW and WA, and Chair of the RACGP’s new IMG committee A/Prof Ayman Shenouda. 

In recent months the DWRM committee 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. The collaboration will facilitate an interactive workshop at the National Rural Health Alliance conference in Perth on September 16th, titled ‘innovating to attract and sustain women in the rural health workforce.’ Please come along and join us if you will be at the conference.
 
Join the conversation and contribute your rural experiences and inform our advocacy efforts. Visit the DWRM website, email rural@racgp.org.au or join our Facebook group.

RACGP 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.
 
The next instalment of the Rural Health Webinar Series will explore how continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) technology can be used to improve diabetes management outcomes. The webinar will outline the principles, functionality, benefits and limitations of CGM technology, and also illustrate how CGMs can be applied in a rural general practice setting to assist patients with type 2 diabetes.
 
Date: Thursday 5 September
Time: 7:30 – 8:30pm AEST
CPD: One EA
Cost: Free for RACGP members and non-members

Unable to attend live? All the sessions in this series are recorded and made available on the RACGP website.

2024 RACGP Rural Member Forum

You’re invited to join our 2024 Rural Member Forum on Thursday 26 September 2024 from 7.30pm AEST.
 
This free online event combines a special guest speaker address from the new National Rural Health Commissioner Professor Jenny May AM, our annual member meeting and networking with rural GPs.

It’s your chance to connect with colleagues from around Australia, find out about the work of the Rural Faculty and meet the RACGP Rural Council to learn who represents you.

Date: Wednesday 28 September 2021
Time: 7.30 – 9.30pm AEST
Venue: Online, via Zoom
Cost: Free

Enhance your rural emergency medicine skills

Designed and facilitated by experienced rural GPs and emergency specialists, the emergency medicine for rural GPs online workshop aims to enhance rural emergency medicine skills using case scenarios that reflect the challenges faced when living and working in rural and remote communities.

This online workshop involves four small-group interactive case scenario discussions and is capped at 40 participants. The workshop will also explore critical considerations involved in managing rural emergency cases, packaging patients for retrieval, communicating effectively with retrieval teams, debriefing and self-care. All the scenarios included in the workshop are written by experienced rural GPs from real-life cases.

This workshop is open to registered GPs, GPs in training and RACGP resident and intern members. You’ll earn 1.5 educational activities hours and 4.5 reviewing performance CPD hours.

You can also apply for a one-day online emergency medicine grant through the Rural Procedural Grants Program.

New Australian Government initiative to support RACGP Registrars and Fellows with access to AST training opportunities!

The Australian Government has introduced a new program that provides funding for 15 new AST posts across Australia. The Advanced Skills Training Posts Rural Generalist and General Practitioner Program (AST Program) is administered by ACRRM and commenced in June 2024. This exciting new program will provide access to innovative new Advanced Rural Skills Training (ARST) posts and utilise funding to support and attract doctors to these positions. Two full time AST posts will be funded annually in each State, and the Northern Territory will be awarded three posts annually in 2024, 2025 and 2026.  The intent of this program is to identify innovative training opportunities that develop the skills required by our rural communities and provide participants with a positive high quality training experience.
 
If you are interested in accessing one of these positions or you can identify the need for a post in your region please contact RACGP Rural at rural@racgp.org.au
or email astprogram@acrrm.org.a

We’re visiting Port Augusta (SA) and in collaboration with the RACGP Rural and South Australian Faculties we will be hosting several member engagement opportunities. 
 
You are invited to join us for one or all of the following activities:

• Member meet-up – Friday 20 September at 6.00pm

• Parkrun – Saturday 21 September at 7.30am

• POCUS Workshop – Saturday 21 September at 9.00am