The aim of this project is to explore how self-disclosures and concealments about professional and personal matters influence the GP supervisor-registrar relationship.
The supervisor-registrar relationship is the foundation for successful training in general practice, which is underpinned by mutual trust and respect. Mutual willingness to disclose areas of professional or personal uncertainty can deepen the supervisor-trainee relationship and foster learning opportunities.
Led by GPSA in collaboration with Monash University and the Victorian Rural Generalist Program(VRGP), this rapid study aimed to explore and expand on existing evidence about rural supervision to meet the learning needs of the RG2 group across the VRGP curriculum. It specifically focused on three rural regions of Victoria: Hume, Loddon Mallee, and Barwon South West. The data obtained through surveys and one-on-one interviews with dozens of participants from primary and acute healthcare, and individuals with valuable experience in remote supervision, was used to develop a Supervision Roadmap to guide the implementation of high-quality supervised learning across the core generalist curriculum in regional Victoria.
Click on the header image to the left to download the extensive report for this project, which has since been cited in several Commonwealth policy documents, and the images below for the corresponding manuscripts subsequently published in peer-reviewed journals.
O’Sullivan BG, Martin P, Taylor CJ, Lodding M, Bilardi G, Dix L, Phillips J, Hutchinson M, Van Wollingen R, Wallace G. Developing supervision capacity for training rural generalist doctors in small towns in Victoria. Rural and Remote Health 2022; 22: 7124. https://doi.org/10.22605/RRH7124
Martin, P., O’Sullivan, B., Taylor, C. et al. Blended supervision models for post-graduate rural generalist medical training in Australia: an interview study. BMC Med Educ 22, 478 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-022-03529-x
GPSA has develeoped the GPCLE as a framework to guide continuous quality improvement of the practice learning environment. The GPCLE has been adapted for general practice training environments from the Best Practice Clinical Learning Environment (BPCLE) Framework as part of a research project funded by the Australian Government via the Australian General Practice Training (AGPT) Program.
Click on the header image to the left to download the framework developed from this research project, the below image for the corresponding manuscript published in an international journal, and here to see the tools subsequently developed as an example of how GPSA translates research into best practice resources and tools to drive quality.
O’Sullivan B, Hickson H, Kippen R, Cohen D, Cohen P, Wallace G. A Framework to Guide the Implementation of Best Practice Clinical Learning Environments in Community General Practice: Australia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2021 Feb 4;18(4):1482. doi: 10.3390/ijerph18041482. PMID: 33557408; PMCID: PMC7914810.
When GPSA undertook this study in 2019-20, we interviewed 22 peer-recognised GP Supervisors and identified 7 key areas associated with quality supervision. These included reflecting and learning from other supervisors, structuring learning, caring relationships, involving the whole practice, learner centred approaches, building independence and encouraging reflection.
Click on the header image to the left to download the guide developed from this research project, the below image for the corresponding manuscript, and here to see the tools subsequently developed as another example of how GPSA translates research into best practice resources and tools to drive quality.
O’Sullivan, B., Hickson, H., Kippen, R. et al. Exploring attributes of high-quality clinical supervision in general practice through interviews with peer-recognised GP supervisors. BMC Med Educ 21, 441 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-021-02882-7
Date reviewed: 11 April 2023
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