Q&A with... Dr Sean Stevens, chair of the WA faculty of the RACGP
MF: Reflecting on the past 12 months, what have been the highlights for Dr Sean Stevens, both professionally and personally?
MF: The WA Faculty welcomed 250 new Fellows into the College last year. What do you think that says about the attraction of Fellowship?
SS: The past 12 months have been a period of stability in my personal life and major change in my professional life. I have really enjoyed seeing my teenage daughter and 11-year-old son grow up and ensure that I’m a big part of that. My wife of 23 years, the brains of the family, is in the penultimate year of her PhD. There is no one highlight, just lots of magical moments. I would highly recommend respiratory physician Professor Bruce Robinson’s The Fathering Project for all fathers parenting in the fast lane (i.e. most medical dads!). It really helps prioritise what’s important.
SS: I think it speaks to the high regard that the RACGP is held in. It remains the gold-standard qualification for our profession and is the endpoint of training for the vast majority of registrars.
Professionally in the past 12 months, the greatest highlight has been opening a new, innovative clinic in Victoria Park with my business partners Dr Mary Wyatt and Dr Sam Prince. It has been a breath of fresh air being able to adopt the latest technology, a re-imagined patient experience and being able to introduce new ideas quickly and effortlessly. Mary, Sam and I are so proud of what we’ve achieved. From the RACGP perspective, there have been two highlights. The first is the amazing performance of the WA faculty staff in delivering 71 educational events, double the number in 2018, with the same resources. The second I can’t call a highlight, but it was the amazing response by our GPs, staff and Victorian colleagues in responding to the sudden and tragic death of our Assessment Panel Chair, Dr Jack Christodulou in August. The November exams were an extremely emotional time for everyone, but the response was exemplary and made me very proud to be a member of the RACGP. 16 | MARCH 2020
their training, then it would break down many of the barriers between primary and secondary/tertiary care. There’s also evidence to show that a GP term early in your training has the effect of reducing your investigations for the rest of your career. In terms of how close to a unified, integrated health system we are, I think unfortunately we’re as far away as we’ve ever been.
MF: There is a decline in the number of medical students and junior doctors choosing to train in general practice, despite an increase in the number of locally training and trained doctors. Why do you think this is so? What can be done about it?
MF: There have been programs in the past that give students and post-graduates a general practice experience, particularly in rural areas. Do these need to be reinstated?
SS: I think the decline in the number of medical students and junior doctors choosing to train in general practice is due in large part to the slipping remuneration of general practice in real terms. Our junior colleagues can see the difference between GPs and non-GP specialists, particularly procedural specialists, and make their decisions based on this. The other factor, not to be under-estimated, is the jaundiced view some teaching hospital consultants and registrars have of general practice. A lot of junior doctors are surprised how challenging, rewarding and highquality general practice is when they actually do a term and this is often enough to alter their view of the discipline.
MF: The college and ACRRM are now responsible for training of general practitioners. Where do the challenges lay for the colleges in that pursuit?
MF: How much does the FederalState funding arrangements affect this? How close do you think we are to a unified, integrated health system? The Federal-State funding arrangements do play a role in so far as they prevent junior doctors doing rotations into general practice. If all doctors could do a term in general practice at some stage of
SS: Absolutely. Giving students and post-graduates a general practice experience, particularly a quality rural experience, has a major beneficial effect on their desire to choose GP as a career, their respect for GP as a discipline and their communication with GPs if they choose a specialty other than GP.
SS: This date has been delayed until 2022 and it will be a much smoother transition than most people realise. During the transitional period, it will be business as usual with the RACGP and ACRRM taking oversight of the the Regional Training Organisations (WAGPET in WA) from the health department. MF: Both levels of government seem to be encouraging a greater role for pharmacists in the care of primary care patients. How much is politics? How much of it is sustainable health policy? SS: It has been disappointing to see the use of pharmacists and other health care professionals in areas
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