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Success of registrar wellbeing committee one year on
The RACGP’s progress on its initiatives to support GPs in training, as well as goals for the year ahead, are revealed in a new report.
The report provides insights into the committee’s ongoing efforts to enhance the professional growth of GPs in training and improve the training experience.
The RACGP has released its first GPs in Training Wellbeing Committee report, highlighting key achievements since the committee was set up in late 2023.
The committee forms part of RACGP GPs in Training initiatives to support the ongoing professional growth of GPs and ensure a positive and supportive training experience for this member cohort.
Comprising practising GPs, medical educators, registrars and RACGP staff, the establishment of the Wellbeing Committee was the first objective of the GPs in Training faculty to facilitate collaboration to improve doctors’ health and wellbeing, and to address bullying, racism and harassment.
The committee’s work includes advocacy for training program improvements and the launch of the National Registrar Wellbeing Program Working Group.
Its inaugural report details the outcomes of objectives to meet coordinated action and key targets, showing the current progress of each as being on track since it launched last year. These include:
- successfully advocating for the RACGP as a training organisation to re-sign up to the ‘Every Doctor, Every Setting’ national framework to guide coordinated action on the mental health of doctors and medical students – a vision championed by the AMA Council of Doctors – and solidifying ongoing commitment to the framework
- reviewing key evaluations of the RACGP’s general practice training program to make recommendations on improvements to enhance registrar wellbeing
- developing a program logic with key initiatives and outcomes for doctor wellbeing
- advocating for the establishment of a working group in the RACGP to scope, pilot and rollout a National Registrar Wellbeing Program for all registrars training with the college, with planning and recruitment currently underway.
According to Chair of the GPs in Training Wellbeing Committee and RACGP National Deputy Director of Training, Dr Vanessa Moran, the safety and wellbeing of GPs in training are ‘crucially important’.
She said GPs in training should all be ‘well supported professionally and in their personal welfare as they train to reach their full potential as GPs, allowing them to provide the highest quality of care to their patients’.
As part of its review of the
2023 Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) Medical Training Survey, the committee identified five key action points:
1. Increase relocation support
2. Address racism, bullying and harassment
3. Increase access to flexible working arrangements
4. Promote the availability of psychological support
5. Improve exam feedback
AHPRA’s 2024 Medical Training Survey
released earlier this month identified that while some areas of improvement remain, there is an overall positive picture of junior doctors’ experience of work–life balance, training flexibility and quality supervision.
GPs in Training Wellbeing Committee member Dr Vivin Thomas Mathew’s involvement began through having his own supportive mentor, before he became a peer support for registrars facing challenges. In the report he highlights the importance of building long-term, nurturing relationships throughout a career.
‘Being part of this committee has shown me that while change is challenging, it’s possible when we work together with a shared vision,’ he said.
‘We’re not just training doctors; we’re building the future of general practice, one relationship at a time.’
With one of the RACGP’s
overarching advocacy priorities to provide ongoing wraparound support for GPs in training to ensure individual wellbeing as well as a strong future workforce, Dr Moran says the Wellbeing Committee will continue its work in 2025. Key objectives include to:
- review and provide feedback on the work of the Registrar Wellbeing Program Working Group
- review and provide input into policies and procedures that impact registrar wellbeing
- review general practice training evaluations and provide recommendations to the RACGP
- provide an annual report on its work in relation to the ‘Every Doctor, Every Setting’ national framework to guide coordinated action on the mental health of doctors and medical students
- hear from key industry leaders on doctors’ health and wellbeing to inform the committee of evidence-based and innovative ideas to support GPs in training.
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