getGP - Gippsland Education and Training for General Practice

What is Gippsland Education and Training for General Practice (getGP)?

Introduction

The Australian General Practice Training Program is a world class program providing personalised, localised and innovative training in the specialty of general practice. Twenty regional training providers now provide this training across Australia. GPET (General Practice Education and Training) is the federally-funded national vocational training company whose purpose is to implement and monitor regionalised and contestable GP training. It allocates funds and training quotas, and undertakes quality assurance within these regional training consortia.

Since its beginnings as a highly successful pilot project and model, Gippsland Education and Training for General Practice (getGP) has delivered Australian General Practice Training in the Gippsland region.

The Board of getGP is made up of representatives from each of the key stakeholders in the region: the three Divisions of General Practice, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM), the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), hospitals, the Rural Workforce Agency Victoria (RWAV) and Monash University School of Rural Health, together with representatives of GP supervisors, GP registrars and the community. The Board sets policy and direction for the Gippsland Training Program, which is implemented by operational and administrative staff under the guidance of the Chief Executive Officer, Susan Lloyd.

getGP has further defined - and will continue to refine - its training policies and guidelines to incorporate flexibility and special needs within the Gippsland region. The policies have been developed by the GROG group (Gippsland Regional Operational Group, made up of the CEO, the Director of Training, all Medical Educators, the Administrator, Registrar Liaison Officer and Hospital Liaison Officer) with the endorsement of the Board.

Information of Interest

Program Outline

The Gippsland GP Training Program is recognised for its innovation in quality education and training. The program is flexible, individualised and learner centred, facilitating each registrar's progress towards graduation as a competent unsupervised general practitioner. All training is based on the curriculum of the RACGP.

Registrars with getGP also have the option of undertaking the ACRRM curriculum, which complements the RACGP curriculum with a specific focus on rural medicine and includes an additional (fourth) year in rural training. Satisfactory completion leads to the award of Fellowship of the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (FACRRM).

getGP provides experience and training in both hospital and general practice settings. Standard training is over three years and includes a minimum of 12 months of accredited hospital training and 18 months of general practice under accredited GP supervisors.

Most hospital terms are based at the Latrobe Regional Hospital, which covers all the basic specialties including paediatrics, obstetrics, intensive care, anaesthetics and accident and emergency. There is also the opportunity to do surgery, anaesthetics or obstetrics at the Central Gippsland Health Services (Hospital in Sale), and anaesthetics or obstetrics at West Gippsland Hospital (Warragul).

There are 25 accredited teaching practices spread throughout Gippsland, from Mallacoota to Phillip Island. Some are in large regional centres and others in small country towns, with or without a local hospital. A variety of special skills, advanced rural skills and academic posts are available.

A comprehensive education program includes face-to-face teaching with GP supervisors throughout all GP terms, local peer learning sessions (cluster groups), and regular educational release days. Hospital tutorials, Rural Health Satellite Network Programs and on-line learning opportunities add to the experience. Through Monash University there is access to educational resources and additional experience in education and research.

The Training

Gippsland has further defined its training policies and guidelines since the program's inception to incorporate flexibility and special needs within the Gippsland region. The development and implementation of the training program is the responsibility of GROG (the Gippsland Regional Operational Group - made up of the CEO, Director of Training, Medical Educators, Supervisors Liaison Officer, Education Development Officer, the Administrator, Registrar Liaison Officer and Hospital Liaison Officer).

The main thrust of our GP training is learning through an apprenticeship model, with GP supervisors as the primary teachers and mentors within practices across the region.