From the Chair

Core Skills, Collaboration, and Connection

This month’s eNews is all about teamwork, the core skills that make supervision tick, and highlights from recent conferences and GPSA education.

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CEO Update

Inter-Agency collaboration: why is it so difficult?

This is the title of an enduring article written by Dr Dorothy Scott OA when she was the A/Prof of Social Work at Melbourne University over 30 years ago. I had the pleasure of working with her as Patron of REFS, a youth and family mediation and support service that I was CEO of at the time.

Read it here

RMA Delegate Prize Winner

Thank you to everyone who entered the draw for a free Delegate Registration to RMA25 given by GPSA. We are pleased to announce the winner is Dr Dana Fitzsimmons, a Supervisor in NT. Congratulations Dana!

Strengthening Trans-Tasman Connections in GP Supervision

Dr Simon Morgan reflects on GPSA’s presence at the 2025 NZ Medical Educator PD Day and RNZCGP Annual Conference.

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GPSA at the inaugural ACRRM Supervisor Summit

GPSA was invited to the inaugural ACRRM Supervisor Summit in Sydney on August 14-15. With approximately 160 supervisors from across Australia, the summit offered an excellent opportunity for supervisors, educators, and program staff to connect and discuss a wide range of supervision topics. If you missed out, here’s a summary of the highlights.

Read it here

Beyond Teaching: The Evolving Role of a GP Supervisor Liaison Officer

Dr. Aileen Traves, a GP in Cairns, shares her journey to becoming a GP Supervisor Liaison Officer (SLO) and the evolving nature of the role. She sees the SLO role as a confidential support system for supervisors, bridging gaps between registrars and supervisors, connecting people to resources, and serving as a vital link, supporting supervisors who, in turn, support registrars.

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Narrative GP Supervision – a novel approach for the high performing registrar

We’re delighted to feature this piece by Hilton Koppe, a writer, workshop facilitator, podcaster and GP based on Bundjalung land on the east coast of Australia. With many years of experience in GP education and training, Hilton brings a unique perspective that blends his clinical expertise with his passion for reflective writing. In this article, he shares how narrative approaches can be used to support high-performing registrars in their growth as future GPs.

Read it here

Bond University award for ‘A sustainable future in primary care research'

We congratulate Dr Belinda O'Sullivan, longstanding research collaborator with GPSA and Director of Research at Monash University School of Rural Health, who received the Bond University award for ‘A sustainable future in primary care’ for her abstract “Mandated or motivated? Why IMGs pursue rural GP careers” at the recent AAAPC conference in Geelong, Victoria. The work will be submitted for publication this year.

Read the abstract

One of the most gratifying comments I frequently hear from our GP supervisor members in my role as Education Manager is how valuable they find our educational resources. Whether it is one of the more than one hundred teaching plans, a recorded webinar, a supervision guide, an app, a How to… resource, or the Consultation! game, every resource has been written specifically for use by you, a GP supervisor working in Australian general practice.

What you may not know is that these resources are constantly being updated. For example, this month the IMG guide was reviewed and updated to complement the webinar held on August 20. And we are constantly updating the clinical teaching plans to reflect new evidence or recent journal articles - for example, that there is now evidence that saline nasal sprays can shorten the duration of the common cold! Here is a list of new and updated GPSA resources for this month.

Dr Simon Morgan, Education Manager

New!

Revised

Click here for details

Rural Health Workforce Census

The 2025 Victorian Rural Health Workforce Census is now live. This 10-minute survey, led by RWAV, will help identify workforce gaps, inform the Health Workforce Needs Assessment, and shape sustainable healthcare solutions for rural and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

👉 Complete the Census

👉 More information

GPSA recognises the traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which GP/RG supervisors and training practice teams work and live.

The GPSA Board and team extend their gratitude to the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing for entrusting this independent organisation to deliver AGPT support activities for GP and RG supervisors under Commonwealth funding.

If you have questions about any of the content appearing in this issue, please direct your enquiry to [email protected]