Celebrating the ‘future of our college’ at GP24

The RACGP is celebrating 118 New Fellows, with a Fellowship ceremony the final event of GP24 in Perth, on Whadjuk Noongar Country.
 
Saturday evening’s event wrapped up the RACGP’s annual conference, which was attended by 1743 people, including more than 1000 delegates from across Australia and the world to engage in a wide range of presentations, workshops, forums and social events.
 
RACGP Vice President and WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman congratulated the New Fellows embarking on providing general practice care to their communities.
 
‘Getting your Fellowship is a long journey, and it’s even more of a privilege to have it given out in front of family and friends,’ Dr Raman told newsGP.
 
‘The WA Fellowship ceremony was an evening event to celebrate our newest Fellows, and they are the future of our college.
 
‘It is something that needs to be recognised, and being the academic college that we are, we need to be providing the quality GPs who are servicing our communities.’
 The RACGP WA Fellowship ceremony saw 118 New Fellows and Rural Generalists welcomed by RACGP Board members and the President.

The WA academic and education award winners were also honoured at the Fellowship ceremony.
 
Dr Peter Smith is the recipient of the 2024 Sam Bada Medical Educator Award, which honours a Fellow of the RACGP who has shown an exemplary contribution and dedication to supporting future GPs on their journey toward Fellowship.
 
Dr Smith was celebrated for his role as a rural and remote GP, having been involved in education, training and supervision within the WA regional training organisations prior to the transition of GP training back to the college.
 
The Edward Gawthorn Prize was also handed out, presented to the GP candidate in WA who passed all three Fellowship examinations on their first attempt and received the highest exam result in the Clinical Competency Exam.
 
Dr Jessica Raubenheimer is the 2023.2 winner and Dr Anita Pratt the 2024.1 winner.
 
Dr Raman said the positive environment at the event demonstrated that everyone was ‘very enthusiastic about what the future holds’ for the newest Fellows of the college.
 
‘[The event] helped to leverage those opportunities, and was also an opportunity for the New Fellows to learn a bit about their local faculties and engage with the RACGP [WA] Council at the ceremony,’ she said.
 
‘There was also engagement with the RACGP Board, the President, and our international delegates.
 
‘It gives an insight into what the college is involved in, and what are the things they can get involved in as a college, and making sure their interests are also being looked into as well.’
 
As well as GPs from around WA, including Broome, Geraldton, Albany and Kalgoorlie, the GP24 Fellowship ceremony welcomed New Fellows for the Queensland, South Australia and New South Wales workforce.

(L–R) RACGP Vice President and WA Chair Dr Ramya Raman, rural WA GP Dr Alex Sleeman, who received his Rural Generalist Fellowship, and RACGP WA Director of Training Dr Colleen Bradford at the WA Fellowship ceremony.

The launch of the RACGP’s GP placement orientation course was also held at GP24, which aims to introduce medical students and junior doctors to general practice and help them get the most of their training placements.
 
RACGP President Dr Michael Wright was there to welcome the 118 New Fellows who showcase another cohort of GPs in training supporting a variety of communities across the country.
 
‘I hope that by attending our conference, both current and aspiring future GPs will come away with a taste of the opportunities and flexibility of a career in general practice,’ he said.
 
‘It is a medical specialty that provides so much diverse care around Australia, and it is critical to holding our health system together.
 
‘Australia needs specialist GPs more than ever … and as the peak body responsible for training 90% of GPs across Australia’s big cities, rural, remote, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, the RACGP is delivering.’
 
Across the three-day conference program, a keynote address from the Federal Health and Aged Care Minister, RACGP awards showcasing the best of general practice, new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health resources, and the official handover to the new RACGP President were seen at GP24.
 
Dr Raman said overall, the conference held in her home state was a huge success.
 
‘I’ve had nothing but positive feedback, everyone was very thrilled at being in Perth,’ she said.
 
‘And the general vibe was very positive, collegial, and just happy.’
 
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Fellowship ceremony FRACGP GP24 GPs in training RACGP WA Western Australia