Financial costs for teaching in rural and urban Australian general practices: is there a difference?

To determine if the financial costs of teaching GP registrars differs between rural and urban practices.

Cost-benefit analysis of teaching activities in private GP for GP vocational training. Data were obtained from a survey of general practitioners in South Australia and Western Australia.

General practitioners and practices teaching in association with the Adelaide to Outback General Practice Training Program or the Western Australian General Practice Training.

Net financial effect per week per practice.

At all the training levels, rural practices experienced a financial loss for teaching GP registrars, while urban practices made a small financial gain. The differences in net benefit between rural and urban teaching practices was significant at the GPT2/PRRT2 (-$515 per week 95% CI -$1578, -$266) and GPT3/PRRT3 training levels (-$396 per week, 95% CI (-$2568, -$175). The variables contributing greatest to the difference were the higher infrastructure costs for a rural practice and higher income to the practice from the GP registrars in urban practices.

There were significant differences in the financial costs and benefits for a teaching rural practice compared with an urban teaching practice. With infrastructure costs which include accommodation, being a key contributor to the difference found, it might be time to review the level of incentives paid to practices in this area. If not addressed, this cost difference might be a disincentive for rural practices to participate in teaching.