General Practice & Rural Medicine

Eric Kalo

Lecturer Medical Education
eric.kalo@jcu.edu.au

Sharron Long

Lecturer, Medical Education
sharron.long1@jcu.edu.au

Haleagrahara Nagaraja

Head, Foundation Studies
haleagrahara.nagaraja@jcu.edu.au

Emma Anderson

Lecturer, Medical Education
emma.anderson1@jcu.edu.au

Andrew Battle

Senior Lecturer, Medical Education
andrew.battle@jcu.edu.au

Julie Mudd

Academic Lead, Foundation Medical Studies
julie.mudd@jcu.edu.au

Sophie Couzos

Associate Professor
sophia.couzos@jcu.edu.au

Clare Beaton

Senior Lecturer - Clinical Skills
clare.jukka@my.jcu.edu.au

Susan Smith

Senior Lecturer in General Practice
susan.smith5@jcu.edu.au

Rural Generalists Perspectives on the Utility of Advanced Specialist Training (Old ID 27921)

Emma Anderson

13 Feb 2023 - 20 Feb 2024

This study seeks to assess the utility of the advanced skills training program among current GP registrars and rural generalists who have undergone the training. We intend to take a broader view of ‘utility’, seeking the perspectives of both Fellows with advanced skills and their employers and other community representatives. The outcome has the potential to inform the program implementors on the way to structure both advanced skills training and support for service provision and continuing professional development, whilst enhancing healthcare delivery in rural settings and improving patient health outcomes.

Retention of JCU basic medical sciences influence on entry knowledge testing and need for early educational intervention of post graduate GP registrars (Old ID 27920)

Emma Anderson

13 Feb 2023 - 20 Feb 2024

This project proposes the use of a basic science exam that serves as a diagnostic tool to aid early identification and remediation of gaps in the learning of new GP registrars. Given that assessment drives learning, the inclusion of a formative basic science retention exam in the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) assessment schedule for new GP registrars can be used to strengthen learning of the basic sciences and their application to clinical practice. Additionally, the study will aid the identification of contextual and cultural differences in terms of knowledge gaps and facilitate the development of tailored interventions to improve registrars’ integration of basic sciences into clinical practice.

Growing a female rural generalist workforce. (Old ID 27421)

Emma Anderson

01 Nov 2021 - 20 Feb 2023

This project will address ACRRM’s commitment to growing a future generalists’ workforce, that must remain inclusive of the increasing proportion of medical graduates who are female. It will do this by identifying barriers and enablers to train and retain rural generalist women for access to high quality healthcare distributed communities. There are a range of building blocks which constitute training and employment conditions; being part of structured training like the QRGP or not, working in a fully salaried position or not and all the levels of nuance that build positive training and workplace culture for women. This project will build on existing research partnerships with JCU GP training, James Cook University and the University of Queensland drawing on existing experience and relationships formed which will in turn build research capacity and keep existing momentum.

Exploring GP medical educator and trainee perceptions of benefits, challenges and enablers to on-line and face to face teaching and learning in vocational GP training (Old ID 27345)

Emma Anderson

01 Jan 2021 - 31 Dec 2022

With the COVID pandemic, the choice of face-to-face (FTF) teaching has been severely restricted, and previous reluctance to use alternative online (OL) modalities, is no longer an option. The teaching and learning processes used in our GP training programs have had to change to adapt. This necessity-driven change will of course alter the teaching and learning experiences of trainers and trainees resulting in both positive and negatives experiences for those involved. Utilising focus groups and in-depth interviews, our aim is to explore and understand the experiences of Medical Educators (MEs) and General Practice (GP) trainees, with OL and FTF teaching and learning in the changing GP vocational training environment to identify and understand the benefits, challenges and enablers to both the delivery of, and learning via FTF and OL teaching. Findings will support the development of effective and appropriate blended educational modalities by Regional Training Organisations (RTOs).

Exploration of cultural safety training and culturally safe practices by GP registrars when consulting with Indigenous patients. (Old ID 27420)

Emma Anderson

01 Nov 2021 - 20 Feb 2023

Developing a culturally safe workforce has been a long-held and enacted priority of JCU and JCU GP training to improve the health of Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. JCU GP training program is committed to the national priority of closing the gap between the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. As such, JCU GP training deeply embeds the ACRRM Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander core curriculum across all elements of training and workplace learning. This project aims to explore the impact of the JCU GP syllabus on the development of cultural safety. This includes examining registrars ongoing critical reflection of knowledge, skills, attitudes, practicing behaviours and power differentials in delivering safe, accessible, and responsive healthcare free of racism. Outcomes of the study will inform syllabus review and development, and further strengthening of current, positively contributing elements. Furthermore, this project will contribute to a larger project on “How can cultural safety, as determined by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, be assessed amongst GP trainees?”

Extracorporeal Shockwave Therapy for Prevention of Diabetic Foot Ulcer Recurrence: A Pilot Study. (Old ID 27555)

Haleagrahara Nagaraja

21 Dec 2021 - 31 Dec 2024

Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is a common complication of diabetes with a recurrence of up to 40% within one year after initial healing. The common cause for recurrence of DFUs is impaired perfusion of lower extremities due to diabetes. This study aims to determine whether extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) can prevent the recurrence of previously healed DFUs since it has been shown that low-energy ESWT can improve microcirculation blood flow of ischemic limbs.