A ‘strong sense of collegiality’ at Practice Owners Conference

The Cairns Convention Centre came alive this weekend as more than 800 delegates, industry experts and staff gathered for the RACGP’s 2024 Practice Owners Conference on Yirrganydji Country.
 
RACGP CEO Georgina van de Water told newsGP the conference had an ‘absolute sense’ of strong collegiality.

‘Practice owners, members and practice managers coming together means they’re growing as a team,’ she said.
 
‘So when they get back into practice, they have a shared understanding of the benefits the conference has brought to them, and they’re also able to really truly consider what changes or improvements or amendments they might make within their own practices.
 
‘And they’ve got the practice management and practical implementation side, as well as the ownership side, to be able to make really informed choices.’
 
On Saturday, a Welcome to Country from local Indigenous cultural group Minjil officially opened the conference.
 
In her welcome speech, Dr Cathryn Hester, Conference Chair and RACGP Queensland Chair, told the audience the college aimed to deliver ‘the best, most exciting and most fulfilling’ Practice Owners Conference ever.
 
‘But it doesn’t just finish there – what we really want to do is to continue to improve and to make sure that next year’s conference is even better than this year’s,’ she said.
 
In ‘the spirit that we all approach continuous improvement in our own practices’, Dr Hester called for feedback on what the weekend’s attendees found valuable, and any ideas about ways to improve for next year.
 
RACGP President Dr Nicole Higgins welcomed the audience by asking them to ‘challenge yourselves’ over the weekend.
 
‘I want you to think about what we can be. As practice owners, we are the change drivers and we are the thought leaders,’ she said.
 
‘But we need to bring our fellow GPs with us, and now we need to be the solution more than ever.
 
‘Practice owners are some of the cleverest people and most influential people – people with passion and with big ideas, and the profession needs your ideas and leadership more than ever.’
 
The conference program then officially kicked off, with keynote speaker Michael McQueen giving an engaging presentation on the key trends influencing general practice, embracing change and being curious, navigating disruption and building a strong business.
 
Sessions on leadership and management, workplace culture, scope of practice and multidisciplinary teams, workforce solutions and artificial intelligence (AI) in general practice were held across day one. The flagship session for the RACGP was the launch of its inaugural Advocacy Plan and GP Advocate Network – a significant part of the college’s delivery of clarity and transparency on its advocacy priorities for members.
 
Dr Hester also welcomed five Queensland delegates, medical students with James Cook University (JCU) who received their conference registration from the RACGP Queensland Bruce Roberts Bequest.
 
The students all have potential practice ownership on their radar. Rayana Mabshura Oeyshi, told newsGP she was excited about attending her first RACGP conference.
 
‘I do have the ambition that in the future I might own my own practice – it’s something that comes with a great work–life balance, and being a woman, it would be something I can do in the future with kids as well,’ she said.
 
‘This is just new to me, so it would be really good to understand how it all works here from all these experts who have been in this field and what advice they have for a junior like me.’
 
Meanwhile, Aaron Gray has his sights set on boosting the workforce.
 
‘I want to own a franchisable practice and produce a chain focus for north-east New South Wales in the coming years when there’s going to be a lot of GPs retiring in that region, and it’s going to become very underserved,’ he said.
 
‘So this weekend is about laying the foundations for how I can start thinking of that approach for the future,’ he said.
 
For Kate Venning, the conference was a networking opportunity.
 
‘I want to connect with medical professionals and build up my social skills,’ she said.
 
‘Communicating with other professionals in getting their opinions and ideas about good ways to approach maybe owning a practice in the future.
 

(L-R) JCU students Aaron Gray, Kate Venning, Alanna Kelly, RACGP Queensland Faculty Manager James Flynn, RACGP Queensland Chair Dr Cathryn Hester, RACGP Queensland Deputy Chair Dr Aileen Traves, JCU students Rayana Mabshura Oeyshi, Adeena Thankakumar.

Following a cocktails and canapes social event on Saturday night, where attendees had the chance to connect and network alongside a harbourside view and live music, Sunday’s packed program included standing-room only sessions on Medicare compliance, general practice incentive payments and MyMedicare, practice management essentials, cybersecurity, AI, and payroll tax.
 
As the conference came to a close, Ms van de Water reflected on her experience attending her first Practice Owners Conference as CEO.
 
‘The feedback from multiple people is they’ve really enjoyed the opportunity to network, but also the content, and the suppliers who are here as well supporting the college,’ she said.
 
newsGP will run separate articles this week with full details of the RACGP Advocacy Plan and GP Advocate Network. Coverage of other key sessions at the Practice Owners Conference will also feature in newsGP this week.
 
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