Tropical Medical Training

A message from the CEO

TMT’s Training Program was established to provide the excellence in vocational training required to maintain the skilled general practice and generalist medical workforce essential to meet the health care needs of our regional, rural, Indigenous and remote communities. It is focused on the unique learning experiences within the region from urban medicine within the three cities to rural and remote primary care within the regions. It is characterised by the internal segmentation of community health care needs and the rich movement in population, country and industry.

Quality Philosophy

TMT has a well-respected place in General Practice, having achieved two ‘Top of Australia’ RACGP Fellows and two ‘Top of State’ Fellows in the last four years. In addition TMT GP Registrars have attained ACRRM ‘Registrar of the Year’ for 2008 and GPET ‘Registrar of the Year 2009 with four of the seven National GPET Awards going to TMT in 2009. We recognise it is no longer good enough to only graduate excellent General Practitioners, the quality of the Learning Experience and the opportunities for unique primary care deliver is a clear aim of the program. The program offers traditional community placement in suburban practices while also offering primary care and specialist retrieval placement with the Royal Flying Doctor, paediatric outreach via plane into Cape York and Torres Strait, remote placements like Torres Strait and Cooktown with outlying clinics across the islands or into Indigenous communities across the Cape. One TMT GP Registrar completed expedition medicine and will be placed in an Antarctic posting for the winter of 2010.

Regional Partners

TMT has had a tradition of collaboration; to network shared recourses across the region and works in partnership with organisations such as James Cook University, The Divisions of General Practice, Indigenous Communities and Health Workforce Queensland. This collaboration includes a strong emphasis on Research, Public Health training and Specialist pathways for advanced skills training with the three teaching hospitals within the region. TMT has one of the highest levels of Advanced Skills Placements in Australia including anaesthetics, obstetrics, emergency medicine, Indigenous health and many more. TMT also has the largest number of Indigenous Placement opportunities for General Practice within community Aboriginal Medical Services and advanced Skill posts. Opportunities also exist for GP Registrars to move across the top end of Australia and to continue their experience in Remote communities in NT and WA.
In Summary, TMT has an established training program that addresses community health needs with sustainable workforce planning and considered skills gap analysis across North Queensland. This works to integrate the training into the health workforce of North Queensland; to better respond to the evolving medical needs of the Rural and Remote communities in Australian.

Standards and Intents

The TMT Philosophy as outlined is aimed at strengthening the Training Program and GP Registrars learning experience to:

• Build capacity in the Primary Care workforce;
  
• Recognise and incorporate cultural diversity;
  
• Broaden and deepen the skills and expertise of GP Registrars to be available to the workforce in planning and research;
  
• Strengthen methodology and data sharing within the region to enhance workforce planning and General Practice Training;
  
• Develop best practice and innovative approaches to training across the region;
  
• Build a collaboration model that recognises the strength of shared endeavours and cost effective advantages of working together;
  
• Provide a sound research base to inform stakeholders in policy and program decisions in training and workforce planning;
  
• Meaningfully engage the stakeholders and clinicians with respect to workforce solutions available in this strategy and the value of registrar training to meet community health needs.