Is the National Registration website (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) effective in tracking Australian medical graduates’ rural work?
- 11 October 2013
- journal article
- Published by Wiley in Australian Journal of Rural Health
- Vol. 21 (5), 249-253
- https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12055
Abstract
This study compared rural location identified through the National Registration (AHPRA) registry with location obtained through labour-intensive personal contact. Longitudinal cohort study with two methods to identify the work locations of medical graduates from The Rural Clinical School of Western Australia (RCSWA). Consenting alumni from the University of Western Australia and the University of Notre Dame Fremantle participating in RCSWA between 2002 and 2009 inclusive and available to contact in 2011. Percentage location matches between two contact methods. There was 80% agreement for principal suburb, 92% agreement for principal city and 94% agreement for principal state between RCSWA personal contact and the AHPRA registry. AHPRA identified nearly two times as many graduate locations. However, there was only 31% agreement for a rural placement location (of any length). In more detail, for year-long rural placement, personal contact was 88% concordant with AHPRA; work six months or more were less concordant (44% agreement); work less than six months were not concordant (4% agreement). AHPRA data matched RCSWA alumni data only for graduates in full-time rural work. Since medical alumni spend up to 10 years in pre-vocational and vocational training, which includes many rural options, personal contact was able to pick up the myriad of rural choices, whereas the AHPRA database was not sensitive enough to identify them. Until graduates have stably finished training, the optimal method to identify rural work is through personal contact but statistical correction for missing data needs to be considered.Keywords
This publication has 9 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Relationship Between Entering Medical Studentsʼ Backgrounds and Career Plans and Their Rural Practice Outcomes Three Decades LaterAcademic Medicine, 2012
- A decade of Australian Rural Clinical School graduates - where are they and why?Rural and Remote Health, 2012
- Rural Undergraduate Support and Coordination, Rural Clinical School, and Rural Australian Medical Undergraduate Scholarship: rural undergraduate initiatives and subsequent rural medical workforceAustralian Health Review, 2012
- How long does it take to train a surgeon?BMJ, 2009
- Medical School Programs to Increase the Rural Physician Supply: A Systematic Review and Projected Impact of Widespread ReplicationAcademic Medicine, 2008
- Vocational career paths of graduate entry medical students at Flinders University: a comparison of rural, remote and tertiary tracksThe Medical Journal of Australia, 2008
- Will Australian rural clinical schools be an effective workforce strategy? Early indications of their positive effect on intern choice and rural career interestThe Medical Journal of Australia, 2007
- RURAL DOCTORS AND RURAL BACKGROUNDS: HOW STRONG IS THE EVIDENCE? A SYSTEMATIC REVIEWAustralian Journal of Rural Health, 2003
- Impact of undergraduate and postgraduate rural training, and medical school entry criteria on rural practice among Australian general practitioners: national study of 2414 doctorsMedical Education, 2003