2010 - General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre

activities including patient consultations, developing management plans, home visits, medical procedures and health
promotion. Weekly tutorials with an academic GP complement the student learning experience. The Academic Centre provides
training for the GP supervisors as well as undertaking a quality assessment process for all practices.
PROVIDING A RURAL FOCUS TO MEDICAL EDUCATION
Our regional and rural teaching and research programs are characterised by collaboration between the Rural Health Academic
Centre (based in Shepparton, Wangaratta and Ballarat), and the General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre's
team of rural GPs located in Geelong, Ballarat, Shepparton, Bendigo and Sale. This collaboration enables us to ensure that
adequate support is given to rural GP teachers and rural medical students during clinical placements. Rural academics work
closely together with the Academic Centre to foster integrated working relationships with relevant stakeholders throughout
Victoria, including the divisions of general practice, regional training networks, local health services and health networks, local
government, consumer organisations, secondary schools and other universities.
Our rural team
Our rural team of GP academics is based in key areas around the state. Most are also medical educators and clinical supervisors
for the General Practice Education Training program. The team enables students to develop a rural and regional focus to their
education and provides a conduit for the Academic Centre's influence into the regional areas via locally based GP
representatives. The rural team is involved in teaching and supporting undergraduate students on rural placements and has
been successful in recruiting rural general practitioner teachers and providing support to them at a regional level. They have also
been active in establishing rural secondary school networks to foster and encourage rural students to undertake medical
training.
Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination (RUSC) program
The RUSC program, funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing provides quality rural placements for
medical students during their course. These include the Rural Health Module; the Rural Early Elective Placement (REEP)
program; and the five-week GP clinical placement during the final year of the medical course.
Rural-focus student activities
The Academic Centre, also through the RUSC program, provides academic, administrative and financial support to OUTLOOK
and Moovin' Health, two student clubs for medical and allied health students. OUTLOOK and Moovin' Health undertake a variety
of activities throughout the year to foster interest amongst high school and university students in rural health careers and
Indigenous health. OUTOOK has an office in the General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre at Parkville and
Moovin' Health at the Rural Health Academic Centre in Shepparton.
INVOLVEMENT IN THE NEW DOCTOR OF MEDICINE (MD) CURRICULUM PLANNING
A new four year, graduate entry MD medical course is under development, with the first intake to commence in 2011. General
Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre is working to ensure that there are regular general practice teaching and
learning opportunities in the new curriculum, with a view to creating a future medical workforce that meets community needs. The
Academic Centre will also offer final year students an opportunity to undertake a research elective or advanced clinical term in
primary care. We are involved in the CRESCENT initiative, which is a project to increase the level of community-based teaching
and learning in the northern and western suburbs of Melbourne. Two new clinical schools are being established under the
CRESCENT banner at Northern and Western Hospitals. As part of this project we are leading the Community and GP Linkages
Strategy, which aims to engage with community-based health practitioners to develop the community-based teaching capacity
in the region.
The Primary Care Community Base Training model in the new MD
The University of Melbourne is transforming its health professional curricula to meet the challenges of: workforce shortages in
areas of disadvantage, increasing chronic disease and the shift from reactive acute care to a primary care orientated preventive
and health maintenance system. With increasing numbers of clinical students there is also a need for increasing clinical
placements and supervisors.
The University is aiming to address these challenges with an innovative strategy to increase community based clinical training in
the outer North-West metropolitan area, which is an area of need. In addition to our traditional clinical schools, from 2012
graduate medical students will be trained in the two new clinical schools, at the Northern and Western Hospitals. These students
will also be attached to a community Primary Care Community Base practice for their clinical years.
The General Practice and Primary Health Care Academic Centre is partnering with the two new clinical schools to develop and
implement the community based training model. We have completed a round of extensive consultation with health care
providers, students, educators and consumers in the region to understand how the model might work and have been successful
in acquiring infrastructure funding enabling 21 community practices to take on the role of community base in 2012. We will
continue to refine this model with the Northern and Western Clinical Schools, our advisory group and by integrating the learning
from similar models elsewhere in Australia and the world.
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