Welcome back to the first training term of 2016. We hope this eNews finds you well and recharged from a break (of sorts) over the festive season. It’s that time of the year, where we all re-engage with GP training and induct our new registrars. For some of you it is with a new provider and we are hearing of some challenges, which are not unexpected given the enormity of some of the changes to RTO footprints and providers, but for the most part RTO’s appear to be working collaboratively with Supervisors and responding positively to feedback. This will be the year of communication… I encourage any Supervisor with a problem, concern or issue to pick up the phone and talk it through with your training provider first. It is amazing how much energy is expended on crossed wires and or things that remain unsaid or explained. We are all in this together. It is a big job on everyone’s part to train the next generation of family doctors, so lets make sure we have a shared understanding and vision for GP training from the outset… life will be far more enjoyable.

We’re aware of some Supervisors choosing to discontinue training registrars in preference for medical, nursing and allied health students, and we acknowledge this as a very real cost of changes made to the AGPT administration from 2016. We are also aware of many Senior Medical Educators who are not engaged with existing RTO’s. GPSA will engage with many of them throughout 2016 to ensure Supervisors have access to their years of wisdom and experience.

We’re really pleased to have engaged Dr Simon Morgan, Dr Konrad Kangru and Dr Gerard Ingham in our upcoming webinar series with announcements of more to follow throughout the year. We’re also really pleased to say that all of our guides will be updated throughout 2016 with a number of new guides and resources becoming available to you.

2016 is a National Terms and Conditions for the Employment of Registrars (NTCER) negotiation year. To this end we will seek your views early in the year to find out your views on the successes and challenges of the current agreement. We also want to hear about your level of satisfaction with the support received from your RTO. Please take the time to engage with these surveys as they will directly influence our approaches in 2016.

There will be a number of opportunities available throughout 2016 for members to meet the GPSA team through Supervisor Forums or conferences your RTO have invited us to attend or at any number of industry conferences we might see you at throughout the year. Be sure to drop in and say high, pick up the phone or email the team – we’re here to support you.

Sincerely,

Dr Bruce Willett

Chair GPSA