Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

General Practice in Australia

1972; SAGE Publishing; Volume: 2; Issue: 2 Linguagem: Inglês

10.2190/ldv8-t97t-p9bx-7n6l

1541-4469

James G. Ryan,

Healthcare Policy and Management

A personal view of the state of general practice in Australia and likely trends in the future is presented in this article. The effects of falling recruitment and increasing community demand for service have not yet produced serious effects in this country. A comparison of the effects on urban and rural areas is made. The general practitioner must relinquish some of his traditional roles, especially in surgery and anesthesia, and adopt new ones. To cope with an increasing work load more use must be made by general practitioners of associated health personnel. Community health centers should be developed in Australia and they may be the key to the viability of general practice. The National Health Service as it applies to general practice is discussed especially in relation to the recent introduction of the most common fee concept. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners is active in preparing a vocational training program. Excerpts from the preliminary report of the Australian Medical Association Study Group on Medical Planning are given. Future medical manpower should be adequate to maintain present standards if recruitment to general practice can be maintained at a satisfactory level. The general practitioner must redefine his role in the medical community. Departments of general practice or community medicine should be established in all universities.