Rural Generalist Medicine
Definition
In January 2018, the two General Practice Colleges, the Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine (ACRRM) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP), came together at the invitation of the National Rural Health Commissioner to agree on what it means to be a rural generalist. Known as the Collingrove Agreement, it articulates that:
A rural generalist is a medical practitioner who is trained to meet the specific current and future healthcare needs of Australian rural and remote communities, in a sustainable and cost-effective way, by providing both comprehensive general practice and emergency care and required components of other medical specialist care in hospital and community settings as part of a rural healthcare team.
The work
Rural generalists and trainees play an important role in the lives of people in our country communities. People living in rural and remote areas experience poorer general health than those in metropolitan areas. Aboriginal health and life expectancy are significantly less than that of non-Aboriginal people. Government funding and industry investment over recent years have brought about a transformation of country healthcare through major and minor capital works. More towns now have contemporary health campuses, expanded hospitals, greater emergency service capacity and modern facilities and equipment. Coupled with technological and service innovations such as Telehealth, healthcare delivery is closer to home for more country Western Australians than ever before.
Living and working in rural and remote WA offers many professional and personal rewards. Many rural generalists remark about the high level of autotomy they enjoy in their medical practice, which begins earlier in their career compared to their metropolitan colleagues. Despite this autonomy, many rural generalists speak of the privilege of working in small, close-knit teams with their nursing and allied health colleagues.
The scope of rural generalists also extends to retrieval medicine. Rural generalists are often the first to care for critically unwell patients and play a vital role in both medical stabilisation and preparing for transfer to another site for definitive care. Rural generalists can also work for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, with patient retrieval, transfers, and remote clinic work within their scope of practice.
To find out more about the work of a rural generalist, please visit the Rural Generalist Profiles section of our website.
The training
Rural generalist fellowships are offered by ACRRM and RACGP. The training pathway is the same minimum duration (four years) for the two colleges; however, there are some differences in the vocational curriculum. For further information, please visit the Fellowship Training section of our website. A schematic summary of the two fellowship pathways is outlined in the following image.
