GPRA Concerned Medicare Changes will Reduce Appeal of a GP Career

General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA) has  publicly called for the Medicare rebate implementation to be cancelled for fear it will reduce the appeal of general practice as a career of choice.
“GPRA has worked hard for many years to increase knowledge of general practice in medical students and pre-vocational doctors, and has been most successful in raising the appeal of being a GP as the career specialty of choice,” GPRA chair Dr  David Chessor said.
“These cuts risk undoing all that good work, reducing the number of quality applicants into general practice training - a disaster for the future of primary health care in Australia, and a trend that will take many years to reverse.”
Dr Chessor also expressed grave concern about the future of many training practices under the proposed changes.
“Registrars are well aware that the fantastic supervisors and practices that guide us through general practice training often incur significant costs to do so. There is real risk that with these proposed Medicare changes, we could see brilliant supervisors left with no choice but to cease training registrars because it is simply unaffordable,” he said.