Over 24 hours, General Practice Supervision Australia will host 48 back-to-back half-hour webinar sessions.
General Practice Supervision Australia education manager Dr Simon Morgan believes he was probably “slightly hypoxic” when the idea for a 24-hour supervision symposium came to him while on the stationary bike at the gym.
Nonetheless, GPSA has carried the idea to fruition. From 8:00am on Tuesday 12 May, GPs and registrars across the country (and indeed the world) can tune into the marathon-length webinar.
It just so happens to fall on the same date as the federal budget; with GP registrars having received a substantial funding boost last year, there are those holding out hope that supervisors will receive a proportional investment.
Most clinical supervision work in general practice is currently unfunded.
If the supervisor workforce was to dwindle, the record numbers of new GP registrars will find themselves without placements to go to.
Dr Morgan told The Medical Republic he was hopeful that funding would be forthcoming at the federal budget, but that the symposium “might provide a nice academic distraction for our supervisors from Canberra” either way.
The Newcastle-based GP will be co-facilitating all 48 sessions alongside Queensland GP Dr Justin Coleman.
“It’s meant to be novel, and it’s meant to be quirky and a bit of an event, and obviously there’s no expectation that anyone would come for long periods, but we just hope people can dip in and out,” Dr Morgan said.
“And the fact that it’s overnight means either insomniacs or people overseas can access what we’re doing.”
There are 12 countries represented amongst the speaker lineup, including the UK, Ireland, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Canada and East Timor.
Most of these international presentations will be in the wee hours for Australians, but GPSA plans to record and upload each session.
It has made for a somewhat eclectic lineup.
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“I’ve got a colleague in the Top End called [Professor] Bart Currie, who is an infectious diseases physician and was the fullback in my soccer team, and he’s not a GP, but he’s talking about snakes and always speaks so well,” Dr Morgan said.
“There’s a session that’s been run around the use of AI in medical student teaching, and it’s almost virtual reality … where a room full of students in another location are observing the consultation through video and audio, through the doctor’s glasses.”
Dr Morgan, who normally gets to bed at 9pm, said staying awake for the 24-hour marathon webinar will be a challenge – but he does have a plan.
“I do spend a lot of time at my computer, and my office chair is increasingly uncomfortable, so I think that’s going to help,” he told TMR.
“I will do some laps in my living room. I’ll drink a lot of coffee, and honestly, if I need a 15-minute kip, [Dr Coleman] will be there to take over.”
