Population health and public health training for Australian rural general practice registrars: a six year program...

In Australia, population health and public health are core aspects of postgraduate general practice training.

This paper describes an academic general practice training post in population health and public health for rural GP registrars in North Western New South Wales. Furthermore, this paper describes how this training post incorporates the principles of "Towards Unity for Health".

In 2000, a collaborative reference group of local and national organisations advised on curriculum development. During training, GP registrars conduct a research project applying population health and public health principles in a rural community. Content and thematic analyses of research documents and GP registrar evaluations were used to provide examples of how this training post incorporates principles of "Towards Unity for Health".

The posts have been evaluated and were viewed favourably by registrars, local and national organisations. Six GP registrars have been recruited to undertake this training post since 2001. Their research projects include: smoking cessation, childhood obesity and hepatitis C. After completing this form of training, two registrars have become involved in medical education and three have remained to work in the region. The educational model developed in this project has similarities with "Toward Unity for Health" with partnerships developed between academic institutions and health managers.

This paper presents a feasible model to train GP registrars in population health and public health skills in a rural region. Further research is required to assess the applicability of this model to other regions of Australia and internationally.