Presidents Report 2003

Justin Beilby, 9th October 2003

Dear All,

It has been a good year for AAAGP. We have been actively involved in a number of policy issues including

• PIP Payment for medical students including submissions to the Red Tape Task Force
• Vertical integration of GP training with the General Practice Education and Training Board
• The revamped Registrar interview process used for 2003 with the General Practice Education and Training Board
• Interaction with the NHMRC regarding the grants process and Grants Review Panels - we succeeded in increasing the number of GP/primary care reviewers from 2 to 5 and now have a AAAGP member on the Strategic Research Initiatives Working Group of the NHMRC.
• Commenting of national development and implementation of the core competencies for asthma education
• Discussions and interaction around the future of the PHCRED Universities program
• Discussions around the appropriate use of the clinical research money that is part of the PHCRED program
• The development of the Australian Primary Health Care Research Institute
• The documentation of how much general practice teaching is now being delivered in undergraduate medical curriculum
• Involvement in the General Practice Partnership Advisory Council, particularly the Quality and Research subgroup

Our scientific day at the PHCRED conference was very successful and has attracted a great deal of interest from our New Zealand colleagues. It was well attended and promises to grow in size and interest as we move into 2004-2005. We had a significant presence at the PHCRED conference with our presentation of the award for the best first time presenter.

Our partnership with the RACGP National Research committee has improved substantially in 2003 and the efficiencies created have fostered general practice research in Australia. The challenges for next year include the integration of more AAAGP members into working groups, committees and grant reviewing. Increasing our partnership with our New Zealand colleagues would seem a logical priority for 2003. Updating our website and email list is urgently needed. Refining our partnership with the RACGP in both education and research has the potential to create more efficiencies across our research community in the use of personnel and monies.

We will need to continue to interact with the NHMRC, the Institute, the PHCRED program, GPET and the Commonwealth to influence the direction of these organizations. We have the building blocks in place with these groups and now it is time to really build some momentum around our political, research and workforce needs.

2004 looks like being as successful as 2003.

Cheers

Justin Beilby - President. AAAGP