 The Kimberley Aboriginal Health GP Training Program commenced in 2003 as a joint initiative between KAMSC and Western Australian General Practice Education and Training (WAGPET) and Australian General Practice Training and Education (AGPT).
The program offers GP Registrars the opportunity to undertake a specialised Aboriginal health placement within a network of Aboriginal community controlled health services (ACCHS) across the Kimberley region.
GP Registrar Posts for basic, advanced or subsequent terms are available in the ACCHSs at Broome, Derby, Halls Creek and Kununurra as well as directly with KAMSC providing remote community work. KAMSC also has Advanced Rural Skills Posts (ARSP) in Aboriginal Health, which can contribute to the fourth year of training for Rural GPs. All posts are RACGP accredited and either have ACRRM accreditation or this is being applied for.
These training posts offer a supported learning environment for GP Registrars who work with Aboriginal Health Workers, registered nurses and support staff to provide holistic, culturally appropriate health care and integrated preventive programs. The experience involves town and remote community-based consulting practice, can include hospital inpatient privileges in some locations and involves work on preventive health programs targeting Aboriginal populations. Obstetric privileges can also be arranged in some locations. The ARSPs provide an opportunity for registrars who already have some experience in Aboriginal health to combine clinical work with some or all of regional level policy and planning work, teaching, practical community based research, other aspects of population health and workforce development.
KAMSC organises regional education including workshops, assists with day to day concerns, and liaises with relevant bodies involved in GP training (WAGPET, RACGP, ACRRM, the HIC, GPET and others). Registrars are employed and paid by KAMSC for all Kimberley Aboriginal health posts with contracts tailor-made to the GP registrar’s circumstances.
For further information about this Program, please contact either:
Dr David Atkinson, Medical Educator,
Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council Inc and Rural Clinical School, University of WA
by phone on (08) 9193 6043, 0438 380 209
or email: davida@kamsc.org.au
OR
Dr Carmel Nelson, Medical Director,
Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council Inc
by phone on (08) 9193 7798
or email: carmeln@kamsc.org.au. |
