A feasibility study of team-based primary care for chronic disease management training in rural Australia

Increasing rates of chronic disease management (CDM) are projected to contribute to significant effective shortfalls in the primary care workforce in Australia.1 Additionally, rural Australia carries a higher burden of chronic illness2 and has existing medical workforce shortages.3 Therefore, it is imperative that rural primary care maximises the efficiency of the CDM it provides. Primary care is also responsible for providing training for future general practitioners (GP registrars). In addition to their training roles, GP registrars (GPRs) represent an important component of the rural medical workforce.4 However, GPRs see relatively fewer patients with chronic diseases than established GPs.5 This reduces training opportunities in CDM and potentially impedes GPRs contributing to CDM within practices. The authors are unaware of any Australian research involving interventions to enhance the involvement of GPRs in CDM. This mixed-method pilot-study aimed to ascertain the feasibility of an intervention of support for GPR CDM training in a rural setting to inform the design of future fully powered trials.