Overview of Procedural Training Program

The Health Education and Training Institute (HETI) is offering funding for GP procedural training posts in the specialty areas of Anaesthetics, Emergency Medicine, Obstetrics and Mental Health. General Practice Training - Valley to Coast is co-ordinating the program in the Hunter and Manning regions. 

The aim of these posts is to provide the training in procedural disciplines and mental health that is needed for rural General Practice. The training posts are intended to be flexible and to allow part time options to meet the needs of the doctors who undertake the training.

Current Posts

Trainees

These posts are being targeted towards 3 groups of doctors:
Registrars enrolled in vocational General Practice training
Rural GPs who wish to acquire new skills or improve existing skills
Metropolitan based GPs intending to take up rural practice

Post Duration

Training posts have 6 month or 12 month full time and some part time options, with some procedural areas offering flexible short term training, particularly if the GP is applying to improve their existing skills.

Accreditation

The posts will link with existing accreditation processes for Advanced Rural Skills Posts (ARSPs) through the RACGP and ACRRM and the relevant Joint Consultative Committee.

Funding

HETI will fully fund the base salary of the trainees. The salary scale will be based upon existing awards and will be determined by the Area Health Service in consultation with NSW Health and the trainee. Posts are supernumerary with the allocated funds being quarantined for the GP training post.

Medical Indemnity

As Area Health Services employees, medical indemnity will be covered by the TMF.

Teaching and Supervision

Trainees placed in procedural posts will have a specialist supervisor and a rural GP supervisor. The speciality supervisor will provide on-site supervision and be available to the trainee to provide appropriate advice and back-up. The supervisor is expected to either provide or organise structured teaching time throughout the training period.

Assessment

Assessment requirements are detailed for each discipline. In general, assessment involves the trainee maintaining a clinical diary and writing case studies. These will be reviewed and assessed by the supervisors. In some cases the trainee will have additional assessment items such as a viva. A formal trainee report is to be completed by the examining supervisors and submitted to the accreditation authority at the end of the traineeship. 

Contact

For further details of these posts, please contact Michael Geoghegan, Program Manager on 02 4968 6753 or michael.geoghegan@gptvtc.com.au.