Getting back into the emergency department: diversifying general practice while relieving emergency medicine workforce shortages.

Abstract

New medical graduates expect to work in an environment that allows scope for flexibility and change across a career in medicine. Recruitment to general practice is adversely affected by its perceived limited scope of practice. Training in procedural and hospital skills is not difficult to access for general practice trainees, but complex and inconsistent credentialling criteria and protectionist attitudes among some specialist colleges mean that many skilled general practitioners are unable to utilise the full range of their skills in clinical practice. The discipline of emergency medicine is also experiencing difficulty in recruiting trainees. The employment of skilled GPs in emergency departments (including metropolitan departments) could improve vocational satisfaction for GPs and emergency physicians, and possibly also improve patient outcomes and flow through the emergency department.