GP Pathway module two: Fulfilling the fundamentals, is designed for Australian and international medical students, and graduates of varying experiences and qualifications, who are interested in a career in general practice in Australia. This activity assists learners to effectively plan, and carry out, a smooth and enjoyable general practice career in Australia.

It is expected that this activity will take approximately 3 hours to complete. By the end of this activity participants should be able to:

• Demonstrate familiarity with key organisations and health administrative systems that affect general practice, eg. Medicare, Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) and WorkCover.
• Describe the roles of, and assistance provided by, six Australian organisations associated with general practice training.
• Identify at least two uses of the RACGP Curriculum for Australian general practice .
• Appreciate that rural and remote general practice requires different training to city general practice.
• Discuss key medicolegal issues relating to confidentiality, consent, prescribing and reporting.
• Recognise the importance of reviewing and implementing effective practice systems that create safeguards in the event that both the GP and patient fail to follow up tests that are likely to be clinically significant.
• Confidently analyse personal continuing professional development (CPD) needs and outcomes.
• List three key areas on which doctors should focus to improve self care.

In Communicating with people with intellectual disability, we follow four people living with varying levels and types of intellectual disabilities: Sara, Jacqui, Colin and Chris. This activity will help to identify and address the communication barriers encountered during a general practice medical assessment and help ensure optimal care is provided for patients with intellectual disability and associated communication difficulties.

After working through this module you should be able to:

• describe your own attitudes towards and assumptions about people with intellectual disability and associated communication difficulties;
• compare and contrast how different levels of intellectual disability may impact on communication;
• recognise various communication methods and tools used in interpersonal communication and the ways in which people may communicate when they have difficulty using speech;
• appreciate your role as communication partner when seeing a patient with communication difficulties, and the ways you can optimise effective communication;
• identify sources of communication resources, aids and equipment for people with intellectual disability; and
• appreciate the rights of people with intellectual disability to live independently and access and participate in their communities, and your role in supporting them to do so;
• be cognisant of the centrality of effective and efficient communication in people's physical, emotional and social wellbeing across their lifespan; and
• identify at least four environmental/consultation context factors that need to be systematically managed by a general practice to ensure that the health needs of a person with an intellectual disability are accurately assessed.

Using a case based approach, the module Challenging/problem behaviours in people with intellectual disability provides an approach to examining the issues that arise in general practice when treating patients with intellectual disabilities exhibiting challenging behaviours.

After working through this module you should be able to:

• succinctly describe a behavioural presentation;
• appreciate the possible causes and implications of the behaviour including physical, social, environmental, medical, psychiatric and developmental factors;
• explain the impact aetiology may have on behaviour;
• develop skills in the systematic assessment and management of a behavioural presentation including issues relating to safety and carers;
• describe how medication, medical and psychiatric conditions may affect behaviour;
• recognise common psychiatric disorders in people with intellectual disability that may present with disturbed behaviour; and
• appreciate the importance of using a daily behaviour record to provide objective, reliable and extensive information on which to base management decisions for people with intellectual disability who have challenging behaviours.

“Challenging/problem behaviours in people with intellectual disability” adds to the growing suite of disability in general practice resources now available on gplearning, which are closely aligned to the learning objectives of the disability statement of the RACGP curriculum.

What is care planning? What is the Medicare reimbursement involved? As part of a continuing series in the management of patients with intellectual disability, gplearning has released Module 4: Care plans and working with services for people with intellectual disability. Care planning involves the entire general practice team and for this reason, this is suitable for general practitioners, practice nurses and the entire multidisciplinary team.

A care plan is a critical part of managing the health and well-being of a person with intellectual disability and this module covers those patients who need a care plan, what this entails and what Medicare will reimburse for services provided. The module takes a case based approach and will take you approximately 90 minutes to complete.

This educational activity was developed with the support of the Australian Government and written by Monash University, Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria.

GP Pathway is a unique new series of online educational activities that provide comprehensive resources supporting medical students and doctors to become GPs in Australia. The first two modules of GP Pathway are requirements for international medical graduates entering into Australian general practice through the new RACGP specialist pathways to assist their orientation to the Australian health system.

GP Pathway module one: Setting the scene provides an overview of nature of general practice and is specially designed for students and medical graduates of varying experiences who are interested in a career in general practice in Australia. GP Pathway module 1 will be available free to all from 4 May 2009.

'Developing a practice-based approach — getting the most out of the Health Assessment Items 718 and 719' focuses on Jacqui, a woman with Down syndrome who presents to her GP for her annual health assessment.

After working through this module you should be able to:

• Appreciate the health inequalities experienced by people with intellectual disabilities, the barriers to health equity and the role of the GP and practice nurse in addressing them
• explain the implications of an aetiologic diagnosis of intellectual disability for medical care
• justify the importance of proactive orderly health management and preventative health strategies for people with an intellectual disability
• perform a health assessment using the documentation provided by Medicare for Items 718 and 719
• compare the opportunities of working with a practice nurse to provide health assessments with the clinical situation of a doctor providing these alone

This is the first of six activities that that have been developed through an education grant from the Department of Health and Ageing and written by Monash University, Centre for Developmental Disability Health Victoria.

The new 'Strengthening Cancer Care: Psychosocial Support Module (PSM)' on gplearning helps identify and provide support for adults living with, and affected by cancer. While the psychosocial care of patients with severe, disabling or life-threatening conditions can appear overwhelming, health professionals can provide sound, practical strategies based on current evidence to help reduce patient and family distress during and after diagnosis and treatment of cancer. It draws heavily upon the clinical practice guidelines for the psychosocial care of adults with cancer to ensure that the best available evidence is used as a basis for meeting the psychosocial and other support needs of people with cancer.

It has been developed as part of the Strengthening Cancer Care Initiative funded by Cancer Australia and developed by a consortium consisting of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA), the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC), The Cancer Council of Australia (TCCA), RACGP and the Centre for Innovation in Professional Health Education and Research at The University of Sydney (CIPHER).

'Putting Prevention into Practice' is based on the RACGP’s ‘Putting Prevention into Practice (The green book)’. It provides an interactive and practical approach to implementing prevention strategies in your setting. Many of the strategies can also be applied to general clinical management.

It is applicable to all in the primary care team and will take around 2 hours to complete.

Prevention activities included in this activity: a critical appraisal of the Practice Prevention Inventory and Plan (PPIP) for your practice setting and case study learnings highlighting particular aspects of prevention.

RACGP QA&CPD Category 2 points have been approved for completion of this activity. Other health professionals may print out the certificate provided at the end of this activity via the ‘my Progress’ screen for evidence of completion.

This activity was developed through an educational grant from the Australian Better Health Initiative: A joint Australian, State and Territory government initiative.

'Robert – GP Case' presents a mental health challenge, which unfolds through a case study involving two consultations with Robert. A brief preliminary quiz raises awareness of some of the issues to be explored in the case. A menu allows you to access specific sections as desired. The resources and references may be accessed at any time via the 'resources' button at the top left hand corner of the screen.

‘Robert - GP case’ contains audio and video files which may be slow to download for some users. Text transcripts are provided for all audio files.

It is anticipated that the activity will take around 30 minutes, but more time may be required if links and resources are accessed at the time of working through the case.