Clinical encounters of Australian general practice registrars with paediatric patients

Whether general practitioner (GP) registrars have adequate exposure to, and feel confident in, managing children's health during training is unknown.

To determine the prevalence and associations of GP registrars' paediatric vs. non-paediatric consultations.

Cross-sectional analysis from a cohort study of Australian GP registrars' 2010-2014 consultations.

889 registrars contributed details for 26,427 (21.8% (95% CI: 21.4-22.2) paediatric consultations. Paediatric patients were more likely to be male and new to the practice. Although paediatric patients were less likely to have a chronic disease (OR 0.38, 95% CI 0.36, 0.40) and presented with fewer problems (OR 0.59, 95% CI 0.57, 0.61), registrars were more likely to seek in-consultation advice (OR 1.25, 95% CI 1.19, 1.31) and generate learning goals (OR 1.12, 95% CI 1.07, 1.18) for paediatric consultations.

GP registrars appear to feel less confident in managing paediatric compared with adult consultations, suggesting an unmet training need.