Provision of other medical work by Australian early-career general practitioners: a cross-sectional study
Michael Bentley 1 , Kristen FitzGerald 1 2 , Alison Fielding 3 4 , Dominica Moad 3 4 , Amanda Tapley 3 4 , Andrew Davey 3 4 , Elizabeth Holliday 3 , Jean Ball 5 , Catherine Kirby 6 , Allison Turnock 2 7 , Neil Spike 6 8 9 , Mieke van Driel 10 , Parker Magin
3 4 *
1 General Practice Training Tasmania (GPTT), Level 3, RACT House, 179 Murray Street, Hobart, Tas. 7000, Australia.
2 School of Medicine, University of Tasmania, Level 1, Medical Science 1, 17 Liverpool Street, Hobart, Tas. 7000, Australia.
3 Discipline of General Practice, School of Medicine and Public Health, The University of Newcastle, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia.
4 NSW & ACT Research and Evaluation Unit, GP Synergy, Level 1, 20 McIntosh Drive, Mayfield West, NSW 2304, Australia.
5 Clinical Research Design and Statistical Support Unit (CReDITSS), Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), Lot 1, Kookaburra Circuit, New Lambton Heights, NSW 2305, Australia.
6 Eastern Victoria General Practice Training (EVGPT), 15 Cato Street, Hawthorn, Vic. 3122, Australia.
7 Department of Health Tasmania, GPO Box 125 Hobart, Tasmania 7000, Australia.
8 School of Rural Health, Monash University, Churchill, Vic. 3842, Australia.
9 Department of General Practice and Primary Health Care, University of Melbourne, 200 Berkeley Street Carlton, Vic. 3053, Australia.
10 General Practice Clinical Unit, Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland, 288 Herston Road, Brisbane, Qld 4006, Australia.
Journal of Primary Health Care 14(4) 333-337 https://doi.org/10.1071/HC22066
Published: 13 September 2022
© 2022 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of The Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)
Abstract
Introduction: There is a trend towards GPs diversifying their role by working in health areas beyond general practice. However, little is known about whether this trend is apparent among early-career GPs once they make the transition from training to independent practice.
Aim: To describe the prevalence of and characteristics associated with early-career GPs providing other medical work.
Methods: A cross-sectional questionnaire-based study of GPs (‘alumni’) who had fellowed within the past 2 years from three of Australia’s nine regional training programs. The outcome factor was provision of medical work in addition to clinical general practice. Associations of independent variables (encompassing alumni demographics, current practice characteristics and vocational training experience) with the outcome were estimated using univariate and multivariable logistic regression.
Results: Of 339 responding alumni, 111 (33%) undertook other regular medical work. Sixty-five (59%) of these were in medical education. In multivariable analysis, factors associated with providing other medical work were having a spouse/partner not in the workforce (odds ratio (OR) 5.13), having done any training part-time (OR 2.67), providing two or more of home visits, nursing home visits and after-hours care (OR 2.20), working fewer sessions per week (OR 0.74), and currently working in an area of lower socio-economic status (OR 0.84). Having dependent children (OR 0.27), and being female (OR 0.43) were associated with not providing other medical work.
Discussion: In this study, many early-career GPs are providing other medical work, particularly medical education. Acknowledging this is important to general practice workforce planning and education policy.
Keywords: career choice, career mobility, education, family practice, general practice, graduate, health workforce, medical, medical education, practice intentions.
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