Supporting medical students to pursue a career in general practice

If we want to encourage more medical students to choose general practice as their specialty, it is vital that we invest in peer-driven initiatives to encourage more students to consider general practice early in their medical education.

The recent Health of the Nation 2024 report from the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) presents both encouragement and concern for the future of general practice in Australia. The positives in the report show that more doctors are entering general practice and there has been an increase in the percentage of medical students interested in becoming rural generalists. However, these positive trends are offset by a worrying decline in the number of medical students who see general practice as their preferred specialty. In 2023, only 10.5% of students indicated that general practice was their top choice, down from 13% in 2022. This decline is concerning and signals the need for more early-career support. This is a pressing issue, particularly as general practice, especially in rural areas, is crucial for maintaining Australia’s health care system.

As the Chair of the General Practice Students Network (GPSN), a peer-led society that promotes general practice among medical students, I see an urgent need to invest in peer-driven initiatives like the GPSN to encourage more students to consider general practice early in their medical education. The GPSN, a national university GP club network run by students for students and administered by General Practice Registrars Australia (GPRA), plays a unique role in Australia by connecting students with general practice through hands-on workshops, skill-building events, and career information sessions. It operates at a grassroots level, reaching around 5000 medical students across 20 universities and providing early exposure to general practice through peer engagement.

What impacts student’s preferences for specialisation are the experiences they connected with during their medical education. It is essential that we, as medical students, have good experiences of general practice if we are to choose to specialise in it.

In recent years, GPSN has pitched a Future GP Peer component as part of GPRA’s federal Budget submissions, highlighting the need for government investment in peer-led initiatives as a vital part of the GP workforce pipeline.

The government’s own commissioned research (led by Health Design Lab in 2022/23), the Attracting Medical Students and Junior Doctors to General Practice Discovery Report, recommended stronger peer support for students and junior doctors. Despite this evidence, policy discussions tend to focus on funding larger institutions, often overlooking the role of grassroots initiatives. For medical students, the only initiatives that impact our perceptions are the ones we can attend and participate in. GPSN is the only medical student society in Australia that is best positioned to deliver general practice specific experiences and opportunities to our members.

Why Australia’s GPSN is vital to the future of general practice

GPSN stands out due to its student-led structure, which fosters enthusiasm and early career connections among medical students. GPSN leaders organise local events, skills workshops, exam prep sessions, and national conferences, all with the goal of helping students build early familiarity with general practice. This model has been particularly effective in sustaining interest in the field, which is why government support for GPSN is crucial to maintain its autonomy and peer-led approach. Any support should enhance — not dilute — its grassroots ethos, which has proven to be effective in generating student interest in general practice.

Peer-led models like GPSN offer a different perspective compared to traditional institutions. For over 15 years, GPSN has nurtured students’ interest in general practice with minimal funding, creating a foundation for their future careers.

Many GPs today, including some of those involved in GPRA, were once GPSN members and have continued in general practice partly because of this early support.

I would like to say to all Australians right now, who are acutely aware of GP access issues, that there are medical students who are very keen to be your GP one day, so don’t despair.

To build a stronger pipeline of future GPs, GPSN proposes three priority areas for government support:

1. Standardising GP placements: GPSN wants to lead a project to ensure consistency in the quality of GP placements across medical schools. This will ensure all students receive high quality training during their placements, regardless of where they study.
2. Increasing opportunities for student participation in GP practices: We need to invest in programs that encourage more GP registrars to teach students. Providing practical, hands-on experience in GP practices is essential to maintaining student interest, particularly in rural and remote areas.
3. Reframing the student experience in GP settings: Changing how students are integrated into GP practices is key. By referring to students as “student doctors” rather than “medical students”, practices can help students feel like valued members of the health care team. We also want to see student doctors afforded opportunities to participate in holiday placements in general practices.

While GPSN is not a substitute for formal education and training, it provides critical peer-driven exposure to general practice from the start of students’ medical studies in both rural and urban settings. We foster connections between students and GPs, and encourage a culture of collegiality. We want to do more of this peer-to-peer work via the university GP clubs. We provide platforms for discussions of general practice to occur, and opportunities for students to consider how general practice aligns within their formal teaching contexts.

The government has an opportunity to invest in initiatives like GPSN to keep students engaged with general practice throughout their education and early careers. GPSN is Australia’s largest GP club network, crucial in building a strong GP workforce pipeline. This year, the importance of GPSN was acknowledged when the Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care granted it a seat on the General Practice Training Advisory Committee (GPTAC). As future GPs, our perspective in these discussions is crucial and often differs from those of established institutions.

Shawn is a third-year medical student at the University of New South Wales, and current National Chair of the General Practice Student Network (GPSN), which represents approximately 5000 medical students across more than 20 university campuses across Australia. Shawn, who is also a sitting member of the national General Practice Training Advisory Committee (GPTAC), has advocated for general practice and enhanced general practice training for medical students from local to parliamentary level. 

The statements or opinions expressed in this article reflect the views of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official policy of the AMA, the MJA or InSight+ unless so stated. 

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