General Practice
Head of Discipline
Professor Michael Kidd
Location
Balmain Hospital
The Discipline is involved in undergraduate teaching and research, and postgraduate research supervision, but has no residency program for graduates, although there are links with the RACGP Training Program.
The Discipline is at the forefront of general practice research in Australia. Our research activity addresses a wide range of topics using both quantitative and qualitative methods.
Facilities
The Discipline has recently upgraded its IT infrastructure. There is considerable expertise available in survey research methodology, questionnaire development and the handling of complex data bases and in qualitative methodologies. There is no clinical base, but the Discipline maintains a strong relationship with a wide network of general practitioners.
Areas of research
The Discipline is at the forefront of general practice research in Australia. Research activity has addressed a wide range of topics using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies.
The Family Medicine Research Centre, located on the Westmead campus, is funded largely through competitive research grants and is a multidisciplinary team made up of scientists, social scientists and medical practitioners. The interests of the Centre focus on large scale data collection in general practice, coding and classification, monitoring of adverse incidents in general practice and the development of a variety of quality assurance options for general practice. The underlying theme of this research is the measurement and improvement of quality of care in general practice, particularly through improved information management. The Centre is also involved in general practice-based clinical trials.
Other research interests in the Discipline include educational research and research on doctor-patient interaction.
Research at Manly is concerned, inter alia, with health service utilisation functional status and continuity of care. An exciting new area of research and development activity is concerned with the use of information technology in the medical curriculum and in supporting general practice.
Contact details
Professor M R Kidd
Head of Discipline
Balmain Hospital (C75)
Phone: +61 2 9818 1400
Fax: +61 2 9818 1343
E-mail: