Academic Registrar Posts
Every year, general practice registrars are given the opportunity to undertake academic posts funded by GPET. These posts are designed to give interested registrars a flavour for academic life. During such placements registrars develop core academic skills in research and teaching in a supported academic environment. They have the opportunity to design and conduct their own research project or join an existing project and are encouraged to pursue this in an area of particular interest to them.
Most registrars choose to complete the post part-time over a 12 month period and are required to continue their involvement in clinical practice with a minimum of 2-3 sessions at a general practice per week. Academic posts provide a variety rarely found in other jobs, with most registrars participating in clinical work, teaching and research throughout the working week. Academic posts can represent the first step towards a career in academic general practice or simply a welcome change from full-time general practice. By all previous accounts it is a rich and rewarding experience.
The following is a brief summary of the current research interests of
the Department of General Practice at
Chronic Disease:
RESEARCH FOCUS
Interventions relating to the health care system and improving
the health of people with chronic diseases from disadvantaged and
cultural and linguistically diverse backgrounds.
Contact person: Professor
Mental Health:
RESEARCH FOCUS
Identification and interventions for depression and related
disorders. Identification
and interventions for family violence.
Understanding the consumer experience of care.
Contact person: Ms
Maria Potiriadis.
Youth Health:
RESEARCH FOCUS
The primary care response to young people’s access to health care
and prevention, early diagnosis and intervention for risk-taking
behaviour/mental health issues in young people.
Contact person: Dr
Lena Sanci.
Climate Change:
Climate change and primary health care is a research strength of the
department currently being led by Dr.
Sexuality and Sexual
Health:
Another research focus conducted by two senior academics (Associate
professor William Wong and Dr Meredith Temple-Smith) at the Department
of General Practice is sexuality and sexual health where they
work closely with social scientists, health economists, anthropologists
and other health professionals applying both qualitative and
quantitative methodologies into health
beliefs and behaviour research in this sensitive area, for example, work
with male and female sex workers, child abuse, drug addicts and
hepatitis C/ HIV etc.
For more reading of previous academic registrars' experiences, please click on the links below. For further details regarding academic posts and how to apply please refer to the GPET website: www.agpt.com.au
I started my academic general practice career a few years ago, after jumping at the chance to complete an academic registrar term with the University of Melbourne's Department of General Practice. Of course, I was initially hesitant that I would have the skills or ability to competently complete the research and teaching components of the year... but I shouldn't have worried, as the support and frequent assistance from more senior staff made the transition easy.
I approached the academic term as an opportunity to find out if academic life suited me - both professionally and personally. For me, I found combining clinical work with academic work gives me the best of both worlds, with each aspect complementing the other.
During my first year, I was heavily involved in teaching medical students about clinical skills such as basic examination and consulting skills, as well as involved with VMA's registrar teaching. I have since continued both of these aspects of teaching, as I have found then extremely rewarding. I am now regularly involved in lecturing, tutoring and hosting medical students in my general practice.
I am now still part of the Department of General Practice, working towards a Master of Medicine research thesis. My research topic focuses on the medical education and training of GP registrars, regarding management of patients with alcohol-related problems. This study all began during my initial GP academic term and has slowly grown into a bigger project. There's a lot to learn about general practice research and the academic post provided me with ample opportunities to learn these, as a novice, with plenty of support and encouragement.
If you are considering an academic term, my advice would be take the opportunity and run with it! It will certainly open doors to opportunities you haven't yet thought about!
-- Paul Grinzi
Research at Department of General Practice – Monash University
Research and Teaching Skills Scholarships for Academic General Practice Registrars
Problem Gambling Research and Treatment Centre
The Centre will:
- conduct cutting-edge research into problem gambling treatment approaches
- develop new clinical practices
- train new and existing staff working in gambler’s help services
- establish a postgraduate qualification in problem gambling treatment
- conduct a sustained epidemiological study of the various forms of gambling provide training on problem gambling to industry on a commercial basis.
Contact Prof S Thomas
Healthy Ageing
Research programs:
- Melbourne Longitudinal Studies of Healthy Ageing
- Service Quality Improvement for older people
- Evidence-based care of people with dementia
- Cultural conceptualisations of ageing
- Healthy lifestyles and enhancing participation for older people
Contact Prof C Browning
Women’s Health
Improving the delivery and uptake of preconception care - The research aims to:
- Determine the barriers and enablers to the delivery and uptake of preconception care in the general practice setting as perceived by GPs and women
- Design an intervention to address the identified barriers and enablers
- Implement the intervention in the general practice setting
- Evaluate the intervention
Contact A/Prof D Mazza
Primary Health Care Research Evaluation and Development (PHCRED) Strategy
To expand the existing primary health care research workforce, while improving the relevance and uptake of evidence in primary health care.
Contact – Mr Chris Anderson
Chronic disease management
“CDM-Net A Broadband Health Network for Transforming Chronic Disease Management” This is a CDM-Net (Chronic Disease Management) aims to trial a new approach to the management of chronic disease by demonstrating the use of broadband-based health services for monitoring and supporting care management. Monash Department of General Practice is involved with the research and evaluation component of the project;
Contact Prof L Piterman, & Dr K Jones.
Childhood Obesity
Developing and implementing best practice in the detection, assessment and management of childhood obesity in general practice
Contact Prof J Dixon
Being an Academic Registrar has really opened up my career options and introduced me to new non-clinical areas that complement my clinical practice beautifully. My special interest is acupuncture, and I joined the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne primarily to conduct research (a systematic review) on acupuncture for pregnancy-related pelvic and back pain. This turned into a trans-continental affair with me co-authoring with experts from the UK and USA! Two years later I am back in the Department doing a Masters of Medicine by research, now with a publication under my belt, and plan to conduct a pilot study on acupuncture for hot flushes. Not bad for someone who had no idea about research prior to her academic term.
Although I joined mainly to do research, I found that the teaching that I did at the Department enhanced my own clinical skills, and I really enjoyed tutoring and even being an examiner! In fact, teaching the undergraduates how to take a history and perform an examination ended up being the best preparation for my Fellowship clinical exams!
Before my Academic Registrar experience, I was struggling with maintaining the (com)passion levels needed for ten clinical sessions a week. I found the balance of academic and clinical work both stimulating and relaxing at the same time, and the quality of my clinical practice definitely improved significantly.
If you're considering academia, I highly encourage it, especially if you have a special interest, feel that clinical work is not quite satisfying enough, enjoy learning new skills, and like to mix it up a little. However, it does involve a little bit of panic at the beginning ("I have no idea what I'm doing!"), you need a wonderful supervisor (mine was fantastic), and you need to be very self-directed. It may open the door to opportunities you never dreamt possible - so go ahead and dip your toe in the water.
-- Carolyn Ee