A year of learning, planning, and implementing
This month marks my first full year as CEO of GPSA.
I finally feel like I've got my head around all the sector / professional acronyms and can actually complete several sentences with barely a word you'd find in the Oxford Dictionary.
I have an awesome team and a supportive, forward-thinking Board.
I have met some amazing people at conferences and sector meetings, and attended RTO events that honoured the contribution of registrars, MEs, supervisors and practice teams in equal measure.
I have seen the value of embedding research in all we do, underpinning best practice educational interventions and resources, and backing our advocacy efforts with real-world data.
I have spent productive time and investigated opportunities with representatives of GPRA, both Colleges and DOHAC, with AIDA, RDAA, IGPRN, AMA, GPME, the Rural Health Commissioner, AAPM, RWAs, regional training hubs and universities.
And that's enough about me.
In this last year, WE have
.... changed our trading name to better align with an expanded focus on a whole-of-practice approach to scaffolding learners;
.... completed a successful review of the NTCER with GPRA that was collaborative and respectful, recognising our members as two sides of the one GP training coin;
... launched a virtual community of practice "GPSA Community" to help unite and empower the supervisors, practice owners, practice managers and others involved in GP training with connectivity and peer-to-peer support on the back of 3 years without face-to-face networking and a notable reduction in such opportunities while the Colleges settle into their role as training providers;
... revised our branding to depict support by many rather than the hierarchical supervisor/registrar dynamic suggested by our old logo;
... contributed to consultations and steering groups focused (wrongly or rightly) on portability of entitlements for GPs in training; rural generalism through both a state and Commonwealth lens; Workforce Planning & Prioritisation; Single Employer Model pilots and more;
... presented to the GP Training Advisory Committee (GPTAC) about the need to unify the fragmented elements that make up GP training pathways from medical school to fellowship, drawing on training practice teams (ie GPSA members) as the one constant with the power to make or break the GP placement that influences future career intent;
... started expanding our resources to better support supervisors of medical students and prevocational learners;
... welcomed practice managers as voting ("Ordinary") members of GPTA Ltd t/as GPSA, opening up the opportunity for one PM to sit on the Board as an elected member;
... ensured the continuation of the network of Supervisor Liaison Officers (SLOs) that was under threat of dissolving as 9 RTOs reduced to 2 unevenly-sized Colleges in 2023;
... run webinars with the Colleges, DOHAC and Services Australia and created online reference material to support our members through the Transition.
With a focus on future-proofing GPSA and the community we represent, we have also been:
- developing a mobile app for not only our members across Australia but the international community of GP / family medicine supervisors, providing easy access to constantly updated content previously available only in static flashcards;
- converting the popular GP Synergy "Clinical Reasoning Game" (for which we were handed the IP in December) into a free online game on our website;
- inserting the voice of our members in conversations about payroll tax and SEM central to the sustainability of GP training;
- conducting research and translating findings into meaningful supervision and training practice supports;
- streamlining the new CPD process by gaining accreditation with both Colleges as a CPD Provider.
And so, so much more.
It's hard not to be excited about what lies ahead for this organisation. I am so honoured to be a part of it.