RACGP to offer Rural Generalist Fellowship from next year

The new Rural Generalist Fellowship has been designed to be well supported and flexible, allowing junior doctors to enter and exit the training at different stages of their careers.
 
RACGP Vice President and Chair of RACGP Rural, Associate Professor Ayman Shenouda, said the new Fellowship will encourage GPs to work in areas of Australia that have long struggled to attract and keep appropriately trained GPs.
 
‘Many regional and rural areas of Australia are in desperate need of GPs. These towns are struggling to attract junior doctors, registrars and GPs from the city to their community,’ he said.
 
‘The evidence is clear that doctors who train and upskill in a rural or remote setting tend to remain in a rural or remote setting caring for their patients.’
 
Associate Professor Shenouda said the fact rural and remote Australia presents unique challenges for GPs, specific rural training is essential.
 
‘Often rural GPs are the only medical practitioners available to support their community, so we must be thoroughly trained in the full scope of medicine that our patients will require, such as emergency medicine, mental health, obstetrics, palliative care or paediatrics,’ he said.
 
The Rural Generalist Fellowship will also be accessible to current GPs who want to acquire new skills or have their existing skills recognised by the RACGP. Associate Professor Shenouda said this is to allow currently practising GPs to be able to better address the changing needs of their rural and remote communities, by upskilling in areas such as mental health or palliative care.
 
The Rural Generalist Fellowship is seen as a vital step forward by the RACGP, and was a decision made after consultation with its rural members and GP training organisations.
 
‘I would like to acknowledge the support of the National Rural Health Commissioner, Professor Paul Worley, and the President of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine [ACRRM] Associate Professor Ewen McPhee, as well as all members of the Rural Generalist Taskforce in developing the National Rural Generalist Pathway, which is now in its implementation phase with strategies to retain doctors working in the bush,’ Associate Professor Shenouda said.
 
‘Adequate remuneration and recognition are essential elements of their recommendations.’
 
The RACGP will continue to work in collaboration with ACRRM and other specialist medical colleges to ensure future rural doctors are well supported and adequately skilled to address the health needs of Australia’s rural and remote communities.
 
Transition processes will be developed for experienced GPs and those who already hold a Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP), or experienced rural GPs who hold Fellowship of the RACGP (FRACGP).
 
The new Fellowship comes after last year’s historic Collingrove Agreement between the RACGP and ACCRM, which defines a rural generalist as:
 
A medical practitioner who is trained to meet the specific current and future healthcare needs of Australian rural and remote communities, in a sustainable and cost-effective way, by providing both comprehensive general practice and emergency care, and required components of other medical specialist care in hospital and community settings as part of a rural healthcare team.

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