Postgraduate medically related qualifications of early career general practitioners.

Abstract

Background and objectives: General practitioners' (GPs) specialised qualifications and upskilling in medical roles strengthen healthcare systems and improve patient outcomes. This study aimed to describe additional qualifications attained, or being undertaken, by early career GPs and establish associations of obtaining/undertaking postgraduate and post-Fellowship qualifications.

Method: This was a questionnaire-based, cross-sectional study of early career college-Fellowed GPs in NSW/ACT, Tasmania and Eastern Victoria (New alumni Experiences of Training and independent Unsupervised Practice [NEXT-UP] study). Univariable and multivariable logistic regression analyses estimated associations of additional postgraduate/post-Fellowship qualification attainment with personal factors and factors related to their current practice and to their vocational training experience.

Results: Of 339 participants, 43% reported having obtained postgraduate, medically related qualifications, 23% had obtained or were undertaking post-Fellowship qualifications and 35% reported no additional qualifications. There was a strong negative association of additional qualifications with having dependent children (odds ratios 0.76 and 0.63 for postgraduate and post-Fellowship qualifications, respectively).

Discussion: Most early career GPs obtained or were pursuing postgraduate/post-Fellowship qualifications. A barrier to obtaining postgraduate or post-Fellowship qualifications might be having dependent children.