Welcome to The December 2010 Christmas Edition.

Our eChristmas Card to You

Check out our eChristmas card to you from all the team at NCGPT.

We've made it to Christmas - Looking back at the 2010 NCGPT Highlights

Some super achievements for 2010 include; 

NCGPT gets a 40% increase in annual registrar numbers - now 34 .

NCGPT fills all of these places and records a 300% increase in applicant numbers over the last 3 years.

Sarah McEwan awarded 2010 ACRRM Rural Registrar of the Year.

Debbie Kors awarded GPET 2010 Supervisor of the Year.

Great success with PGPPP. NCGPT now has six new practices on board bringing the total to eight. This means we can now offer forty PGPPP posts to  junior doctors a year! 

The NCGPT Anaesthesia 2010 Conference a huge success.

100% exam pass rate for all our registrars sitting their RACGP exams.

Six new trainees take up the Procedural Training Program.

The new NCGPT training room gets plenty of use and proves a great success.

NCGPT engaged by North Coast Area Health to deliver Consultation and Communication Skills Workshops. These were very effective and popular and will continue in 2011.  

OTD program achieves great exam results.

CEO Update

CEO John Langill and Executive Officer Lesley Mitchell 

Here we are once again, Christmas is just around the corner and everyone here is looking forward to a well earned break over the holidays.

We’ve had another great year at NCGPT and, as I look back over the last 12 months, I am amazed at how much we’ve achieved in the course of the year. It feels like only a few short weeks ago that we welcomed our newest cohort of registrars. As I write this I’m looking at the picture we took of them at the first workshop at Yamba in January and also the group that started mid-year. The word I get from the medical education team is that they are all thriving in general practice. That has a lot to say about the caliber of the doctors who join our program, but also reflects on the commitment of their GP supervisors and the staff in their host practices.

We (that’s all of us and you!) must be doing something right and the word is getting out because, once again, our program is oversubscribed for 2011. We successfully filled all 34 training places for 2011 which is incredibly satisfying because that represents a 40% increase in our registrar numbers in just one year. Congratulations to all 34 of our newest registrars. We think you’ve made a fantastic decision to train and work on the beautiful north coast! We look forward to welcoming you and your families in the new year.

But 2010 wasn’t just about registrars. This year we kicked off our first two Prevocational GP Placement Program (PGPPP) posts where junior doctors rotate out of the local base hospitals to undertake 10 week terms in general practice. The feedback from the doctors who went through the program has been fantastic and we know many of them are now destined to join the general practice training program.

Building on that success, we have secured funding for an additional six posts for 2011. Getting those practices ready and accredited has taken a lot of work (and even more goodwill) from the practices and supervisors. A heartfelt thanks goes out to all of you from all of us at NCGPT. We look forward to a very busy and successful PGPPP roll-out in 2011.

Now that I’ve started writing this little note I realise I could go on for pages and pages, but Sean has asked me to keep it short and sweet. So I will.

As we reach the end of a very successful and rewarding year, on behalf of the entire NCGPT team and board, I would just like to take the opportunity to wish everyone in the NCGPT family (registrars, junior doctors, procedural trainees, overseas trained doctors and all of our wonderful GP supervisors and their practice staff) a very happy and restful holiday season.

See you in the new year!

John Langill

CEO NCGPT

Director of Training Update

Director of Training Christine Ahern

This has been another huge year for NCGPT.

Our education program, while not noticeably changed in terms of format and topics, requires constant updating and revision to remain relevant. Feedback from registrars has been positive throughout the year and our GPT3 workshops have proved popular. All registrars who enrolled, passed their exams this year. This is an outstanding result for all the practices, supervisors, medical educators and the admin support team, as well as of course the registrars themselves!

Our supervisors remain satisfied for the most part. There were some great suggestions in the recent survey and in 2011, we will bring new energy and passion into implementing those ideas that we can! We take seriously our role to advocate for supervisors and try to keep beaurocracy and stress to a minimum for both supervisors and practices.

In 2010, we welcomed new registrars, new supervisors and a couple of new medical educators to the AGPT ( registrar training) program. Our priority has been to fill places in existing practices rather than recruit new ones so we have a few interested practices on a waiting list should our capacity grow in future years.

Our new cohort for 2011 looks to be bright , enthusiastic and eminently suitable to GP training. We are delighted to welcome them on board as well.

Following a successful and enlightening inaugural year, we have greatly expanded our Prevocational GP Placements Program and practices for 2011. While the positions will not be fully subscribed in 2011, demand for this program will grow and we expect to be working at full strength in 2012.

The NSW GP Procedural Training Program was extremely well subscribed in 2010, demonstrating that this program is meeting a demand for GPs and registrars in NSW. GPs provide vital services to the community in procedural roles and we hope they will continue to be supported by their Area Health Services. The NCGPT anaesthetic conference was a huge success and we hope to repeat this event in 2012.

The RDN OTD support towards fellowship program also remained active during 2010, although funding did not manage to meet the needs for all OTDs in our region. The RDN remains a strong advocate for OTDs across NSW and Australia and we look forward to working closely with them in 2011. We are ever optimistic that the new year will bring new funding opportunities to provide for our colleagues from overseas who face so many challenges.

So, a Happy Xmas and New Year to all our friends and colleagues. Thank you for your hard work and support in 2010.

Have a great break, and stay safe if you are working and travelling.

We anticipate a busy and productive 2011 and stay committed to finding simple and effective ways to achieve the best outcomes for those we work with!

Christione Ahern

Director of Training

RSO Update

RLO Sue Gramza

Well, 2010, where did the time go????

It’s almost over and in a way it feels like it has just begun. For some of you it is almost the end of you training with NCGPT, which for me is a sad time.

For others you have only just completed your first year of GP placements. I hope you have all enjoyed your time and learnt a lot from the educational sessions that we ran here at NCGPT. Congratulations to those who passed all three segments of the RACGP Exam during the year and keep on studying for those sitting next year. We had an amazing 100% pass rate this year for those who sat the exam!

It was a year for babies this year, there were 6 new arrivals that I know of and a wedding or two as well. Along with our 2010 cohort of 30 newbies, we also had quite a few (around 10) registrars transfer to us from other RTP’s. The word is out….North Coast is the place to be….

Looking ahead, 2011 will be extremely busy with 34 new registrars joining NCGPT and a couple of transfers in as well. Our GPT1 workshop will be the biggest we have ever had, look out Angourie, the pool table will really get a workout this time. I will have to get some practice in before the workshop.

My Christmas break this year will be the first time in 9 years that I have had 3 weeks at once off, I am going on a cruise to the South Pacific Islands and the most exciting event will be my daughter’s wedding in Vanuatu…

Merry Christmas to you all, have a lovely break, don’t eat too much and I will see you all in 2011. 

Sue Gramza

Registrar Liason Officer

SLO Update

SLO John Vaughan

A year of significant gains for supervisors is behind us and hopefully a new year ahead for further progress.

In real terms our teaching allowance has been raised and with TIP payments, goes some way to defraying the costs of providing training places in our practices for registrars and in some places PGPPP's.

There has also been a recognition of the need for infrastructure funding to improve the facilities in our practices for those brave souls who are game enough to take the plunge and apply. These were the 2 areas identified as the most urgent in our quest to improve training for our increasing numbers of registrars, PGPPP's and medical students, and I note more recently possibly nursing students who may be placed in general practice beside our hard working practice nurses.

These and other issues will continue to be taken up on your behalf by the supervisors network in 2011.

Thank you to all the supervisors whom it was my privilege to meet in 2010 and I trust that you will continue to use the office of the SLO to bring your concerns to the RTP and to the wider GPET network. I hope you all have a well deserved break over the festive season with time and sharing with family and friends.
 

John Vaughan
Supervisor Liaison Officer
 

PGPPP, GPPTP and OTD Update

Bruce Barling and Sharyn Corbon

It has been a very busy year for Bruce and Sharyn who between them look after all of our ‘acronym’ programs: PGPPP, GPPTP and OTDs!

2010 has been a momentous year as we implemented PGPPP at the Toormina and Goonellabah Medical Centres. The feedback from the junior doctors and supervisors has been overwhelmingly positive.

Six new practices have agreed to participate in the program in 2011. We welcome CPC and Westside Medical in Port Macquarie; Woolgoolga & Northern Beaches, Woolgoolga; Union Street, Maclean; Grant Street Clinic, Ballina; and, Musgrave Street, Coolangatta. This major increase means that up to 40 additional hospital RMOs will get to experience a 10-11 week term in general practice. The challenge for 2011 is to work with our feeder hospitals on the north coast and in Sydney to fill as many terms as possible.

The GP Procedural Training program continues to be popular with registrars and GPs with 11 participants during 2010. Six new participants are scheduled to commence at the beginning of 2011 and there will be others that commence during the year. New posts have been accredited in Psychiatry at Port Macquarie Hospital and a Surgery post at Grafton Hospital.

The preparing for Fellowship program that we run for Overseas Trained Doctors (funded by the RDN) has 28 doctors enrolled. Two examination preparation and one communication skills workshop were held during the year.

Christmas for Bruce will be with family at home in Alstonville with the addition this year of first grandchild Henry (have I showed you his photo recently!!!). Sharyn will be busy with husband Tim working on their new ‘palace’ which they are owner-building at Ocean Shores, and will also have a visit from their daughter Sarah from Tamworth.

Best wishes to all for a happy Christmas and New Year.

Bruce Barling

PGPPP Program Manager

New Medical Educator Dr Nicola Foster

Dr Nicola Foster

NCGPT has been very fortunate to enlist Dr Nicola Foster to its team of medical educators. Nicola is an experienced GP who came to Australia soon after graduating in England and eventually found her way to the beautiful North Coast of NSW. She has many years of experience in General Practice and worked at Women’s Health Matters until earlier this year. She is currently working at the Grant Street Clinic in Ballina

With an increase of over 40% in registrar numbers for next year and the rolling out of six new PGPPP posts, 2011 will be a busy year for the medical education team. Nicola will be initially working with the junior doctors doing PGPPP. She will work closely with Kayte Evans to support this important new program.

Nicola introduce yourself………..
 

I was born on a farm in England near Windsor, and grew up with an abundance of good fresh food. After Medical School and working in London, I escaped to Rockhampton in QLD, for sunshine, pineapples and the ability to continue scuba diving.

The next few years were very busy with working trips back to the UK , living in Perth, the births of three children, and then the decision to live in Alstonville. We bought a beautiful farm and were almost self sufficient for food. We then started the Alstonville Medical Centre.

During this time I was also working in a Family Planning Clinic. After a group of school girls tested positive for Chlamydia, my era as a medical educator started – with a talk on STD’s to the whole 1,000+ students and staff of a local high school. What a baptism by fire! For the next 15 years, with other relevant groups, we created an “STD Day” which we took into the local schools.

As the years passed I decided to trade the Family Planning clinic for the Menopause Clinic, one does have to move with the times! I also moved to beautiful Lennox Head, and continued to work in general practice in Grant Street Clinic in Ballina.

Life continues to be wonderfully full with my children and their partners, and now four grandchildren. I keep fit with Pilates, lots of hiking, frolicking in the sea, and skiing.

I look forward to meeting and working with many of you in the year ahead. Best wishes for a safe and happy festive season.

Nicola Foster

Medical Educator