Erin Wilson, Richard Lawrance
Much Australian research in the last 15 years shows that a major source of attrition in rural general practice workforce is due to factors involving the family of the GP as well as the GP's professional practice and access to professional support and continuing education. More recent research has shown that, while government-funded initiatives have led to substantial improvement in professional support and continuing education, family influences still remain an unremediated cause of attrition. Research has also resulted in recommended strategies to address family influences, and strategies to enable rural workforce to benefit from the feminisation of general practice currently underway in Australia. In 2000, a modest grant from Australia's federal government enabled the Rural Faculty of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners to trial a number of strategies recommended as a result of this research. The trial involved three discrete groups: Rural Medical Family Networks in each State of the Australian Federation, spouses of GP Registrars enrolled in a pilot remote vocational training scheme, and spouses of female GPs in South Australia and representatives of the communities in which they live. Strategies include the provision of spousal programs for CME activities, child care support, vocational support, and regional mentoring networks to support rural families in relocation or in crisis. This paper will document the early results of these strategies in relation to the retention and recruitment of female GPs to rural and remote Australia.