Responding to registrars' in-consultation calls for assistance: Practical implications from the ReCeNT project

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• General Practice Training
• Professional Development

Background:

• Australian general practice registrars are trained to identify and manage knowledge or skill deficits during patient consultations.
• Analysis of 84,723 consultations revealed patterns in registrar assistance-seeking behavior.

Purpose of the Study:

• To examine the frequency and content of assistance sought by general practice registrars from supervisors.
• To discuss the implications of these findings for Australian general practice training programs.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 84,723 general practice registrar consultations.
• Categorization of assistance requests by consultation term, condition type, and nature of help (diagnosis vs. management).

Main Results:

• Term 1 registrars sought supervisor assistance in 11.0% of consultations, decreasing to 1.2% by Term 4.
• Assistance was most frequently requested for dermatology and musculoskeletal conditions.
• Requests more commonly concerned management strategies than diagnostic clarification.

Conclusions:

• Registrars continue to seek supervisor input even with access to electronic resources.
• Practices should expect supervisor interruptions in approximately 10% of registrar consultations.
• Training standards, payments, and supervisor professional development should adapt to the evolving needs of registrars, particularly in managing complex cases, dermatology, and musculoskeletal medicine.