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General Practitioners

General Practitioners (GPs) working in Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCOs) across Victoria are highly skilled and valued members of their multidisciplinary teams.

Aboriginal health provides a challenging and rewarding career unmatched in other general practice settings. GPs are immersed within local Aboriginal culture and undertake complex medicine. They manage a wide range of clinical presentations including chronic diseases, preventative health care, health promotion, public health.

Supporting GPs are teams of nurses, Aboriginal health workers, medical receptionists, practice managers, and a diverse range of allied health workers from nutritionists, alcohol and other drug (AOD) counsellors. GPs who work in Aboriginal health learn about local Aboriginal culture; experience comprehensive primary health care, are given great support and opportunities unique to Aboriginal health.

In addition to their medical clinics, ACCOs are holistic organisations offering a range of programs and services to support the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals, families and Communities.

For more information:

  • Download the VACCHO Statewide GP Workforce Strategy 2021 – 2031 (PDF, 1MB) here
  • Read VACCHO’s Victorian ACCO GP Workforce Profile 2021 Report here
  • Sign up to regular emails for GPs and practice managers and be advised of upcoming professional development opportunities and networking forums
  • Contact our Statewide GP Workforce Strategy Coordinator

GP Gathering 2023. Photos by VACCHO.

VACCHO GP Advisory Group

The GP Advisory Group (GPAG) provides a regular forum for VACCHO to engage with and seek advice from GPs working within Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOS). This advice will support the implementation of VACCHO’s GP Workforce Strategy 2021-2031. The five areas of action outlined in the Strategy are:

  1.  Growing Aboriginal GPs for Victorian Aboriginal communities
  2.  Strengthening the sector to improve retention
  3.  Promoting the ACCO sector as a career of choice and increasing the candidate pool
  4. Improving recruitment
  5. Building an evidence base with data and research

Members of the GPAG are responsible for:

  • Providing advice to VACCHO on matters raised with the group
  • Raising issues that impact workforce retention and wellbeing
  • Sharing subject matter expertise that will support the GP Workforce Strategy implementation
  • Raising additional matters impacting ACCO clinical teams and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health outcomes

To find out more or to get involved contact our Statewide GP Workforce Strategy Coordinator

VACCHO Balint Group

Would you value the opportunity to explore the emotional and relational aspects of your cases?

Join VACCHO’s Balint Group, an online peer clinical reflective practice group set up for GPs working in the ACCO sector. It’s a safe and guided discussion with a group facilitator and supportive peer network who will help unpack troubling or challenging cases, free from intrusive questions or criticism. The focus is on understanding the emotional and psychological dynamics between the clinician and the patient, not on diagnostics, treatment regime or finding clinical solutions.

How might a Balint Group benefit your practice?
• A regular opportunity to reflect on clinical cases in a secure space;
• A way of improving our understanding and tolerance of complex patients;
• Learning from colleagues’ different perspectives on each case; and
• Refreshing your interest and building confidence in your clinical work.

To join or for more information contact our GP Statewide Co-ordinator 

Download the flyer
More about Balint Groups

DATES

The VACCHO Balint Group will meet monthly on Monday nights, 6.30pm – 7.30pm. These sessions are obligation free and GPs are welcome to join all or any session they can.

• FERUARY 6
• MARCH 6
• APRIL 3
• MAY 1
• JUNE 5		 • JULY 10
• AUGUST 7
• SEPTEMBER 4
• OCTOBER 2
• NOVEMBER 13

VACCHO Statewide GP Gathering

A free cultural and clinical education program for GP and GP registrars from VACCHO’s Member Organisations. The 2023 Gathering took place in May on Wurundjeri Country at the RACV Healesville.

Read about the 2023 Statewide GP Gathering

VACCHO Events for ACCO GPs

RESOURCES

Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria

The Rural Workforce Agency of Victoria (RWAV) advertises a range of permanent GP and locum roles in Aboriginal health in rural and regional Victoria.

Click Here

VACCHO Aboriginal Medical Cadetship Program

This is for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander medical students from Victoria with a passion and commitment to work in Community and contribute to health equity.

Click Here

General Practice Training

AOD resources for Victorian ACCO GPs

Resources to DirectLine, Australian Indigenous Health InfoNet, Women’s Alcohol and Drug Service, Project Echo and more. 

Download Here

Cultural safety in Indigenous Health | Doctor What? Doctor Where?

Learning about cultural safety is the best way to help address the poorer health outcomes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people face.

Hear from New Zealand First Nations speaker Abe Ropitini, Executive Director of Population Health at VACCHO, as well as Dr Daniel Kinsella, a GP working in Indigenous Health in Bendigo, about how this simple yet effective element of practicing medicine can help build trust and help address these unequal health outcomes.

Listen to this episode of Doctor What? Doctor Where? Stories of Rural Medicine in Victoria by Monash University here

More Here