Medical School - University of Queensland

Mayne Academy of General Practice & General Practice Clinical Unit

The Mayne Academy of General Practice and the General Practice Clinical Unit (GPCU) at the University of Queensland includes a vibrant group of GP academics, primary care researchers, GP registrars, higher degree research students and professional staff. The Mayne Academy of General Practice is involved in the General Practice curriculum across the Greater Brisbane, Rural and Ochsner Clinical Schools. The GPCU works in partnership with general practices across greater Brisbane to provide clinical placements for medical students and to undertake practice-based research. Students flourish in these valued learning environments and learn about the complexity of caring for people in the community by observing experienced practice staff and participating in consultations. We enjoy sharing our passion for general practice with students to support growing the general practice workforce. Our multidisciplinary team is involved in a wide range research activities dedicated to developing the evidence-base for high-quality primary health care to improve outcomes for people and communities. Postgraduate education in skin cancer medicine is delivered in the Master of Medicine - MMed (Skin Cancer) programs.

General Practice Clinical Unit

Professor Katharine Wallis

Mayne Professor and Head

Mayne Academy of General Practice
Head

General Practice Clinical Unit
Associate Professor Nancy Sturman

Deputy Head GPCU, Joint Lead Teaching & Learning, Joint GP Course Coordinator
Associate Professor and Speciality Lead (General Practice)

General Practice Clinical Unit
Associate Professor Michaela Kelly

Deputy Head GPCU, Joint Lead Teaching & Learning, Joint GP Course Coordinator
Associate Professor and Principal Speciality Supervisor (General Practice) & Associate Professor and Speciality Lead (General Practice)

General Practice Clinical Unit
Theme Lead, Partner and Team Player

Academy for Medical Education
Professor Claire Jackson

Director
Professor in General Practice and Primary Care Reform Research

General Practice Clinical Unit
Affiliate of Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing

Centre for Community Health and Wellbeing
Associate Professor Maria Donald

Senior Principal Research Fellow
Associate Professor

General Practice Clinical Unit
Associate Professor Geoff Spurling

Associate Professor

General Practice Clinical Unit
Principal Research Fellow
Natalie Best

Student Coordinator
Dr Annabel Chau

Clinical Senior Lecturer
Maryanne Cleetus

RELEASE Project Coordinator
Dr Parvin Delshad

Clinical Lecturer
Dr Polyana Moura Ferreira

RELEASE Research Officer
Megan Harris

Student Coordinator
Dr Jennifer Job

Research Director
Dr David King

Senior Lecturer and Principal Speciality Supervisor (General Practice)

General Practice Clinical Unit
Chengjun (Olivia) Liu

RELEASE Research Officer
Dr Johanna Lynch

Clinical Senior Lecturer
Dr Suzanne McDonald

Research Fellow (Health Services Researcher) - General Practice Clinical Unit, and, Sessional Academic - School of Psychology
Dr Ben Mitchell

PhD Candidate
Senior Lecturer and Principal Speciality Supervisor (General Practice)

General Practice Clinical Unit
Dr Caroline Nicholson

Director Operations & Principal Research Fellow
Natalii Paczkowski

Queensland State Coordinator, PARTNER network
Dr Lynne Reid

Clinical Senior Lecturer
Dr Matthew Roughan

GP Academic Registrar

General Practice Clinical Unit
Dr Cherri Ryan

Senior Lecturer and Speciality Supervisor (General Practice)

General Practice Clinical Unit
Dr Beth Shirley

Clinical Senior Lecturer (GP Liaison)
Mia Slaughter

RELEASE Administration Officer
Ruby Strauss

Senior Research Officer
Dr Hayley Thomas

Clinical Senior Lecturer, Senior Research Fellow and PhD Candidate
Karen Thrift

RELEASE GP Liaison Officer
Michelle Tsai

Administration Officer

Centre for Health System Reform and Integration
Dr Chloe Tyson

GP Academic Registrar

General Practice Clinical Unit
Dr Jess van den Heuvel

GP Academic Registrar
Ms Gillian Vey

Administration Manager; EA to Claire Jackson
Centre for Health System Reform and Integration Officer

General Practice Clinical Unit
Dr Andrew Webster

Clinical Senior Lecturer and PhD Candidate
Robyn Wessling

Executive Assistant to Head
Kim Wicks

Senior Student and Academic Administration Officer (General Practice / Medicine in Society)

Medical School
,

Higher Degrees by Research (HDR) students

Emma Baillie

PhD Student

Faculty of Medicine
Dr Ben Mitchell

PhD Candidate
Senior Lecturer and Principal Speciality Supervisor (General Practice)

General Practice Clinical Unit
Alice Pender

PhD Candidate
Chad Rieger

PhD Scholar
Dr Hayley Thomas

Clinical Senior Lecturer, Senior Research Fellow and PhD Candidate
Dr Andrew Webster

Clinical Senior Lecturer and PhD Candidate
Sophie Wen

Adjunct, Honorary, and Academic Title Holder members

Associate Professor Deborah Askew

,
Honorary Associate Professor Wendy Brodribb

Honorary Associate Professor
Associate Professor Marie-Louise Dick

Honorary Associate Professor
Dr Alison Green
Dr Margaret Henderson

Honorary Lecturer

General Practice Clinical Unit
Dr Warren Jennings

Academic Title Holder - Lecturer
Dr Margaret Kay

Academic Title Holder - Senior Lecturer
Dr Rory Melville
Emeritus Professor Geoff Mitchell

Emeritus Professor

General Practice Clinical Unit
Associate Professor Jane Nikles

Associate Professor
Honorary Professor Philip Schluter
Dr Isaac Tranter

Academic Title Holder
Emeritus Professor Mieke Van Driel

Emeritus Professor

General Practice Clinical Unit

Rural Clinical School - Bundaberg

Rural Clinical School - Hervey Bay

Dr Melissa Bourke

Rural Clinical School - Rockhampton

Rural Clinical School - Toowoomba

Dr Loretto Wainwright

Discipline Lead - General Practice

Toowoomba Regional Clinical Unit

Ochsner Clinical School

Dr Marlon Joseph

Deputy Director, Admissions and Enrollment

Ochsner Clinical School
Senior Lecturer

University of Queensland/Ochsner Clinical School
Staff physician

Ochsner Health Centre - Lapalco
Catarina Donnelly

General Practice & Medicine in Society

Senior Education Program Manager
Clinical Education

Ochsner Clinical School

In partnership with an outstanding team of general practitioner teachers, we make a strong contribution to teaching across the MD program. The Mayne Academy also supervises Higher Degree by Research (HDR) students, including general practitioners and other health professionals.

The UQ MD program

The UQ MD (Dctor of Medicine) is a 4-year postgraduate degree. The UQ MD curriculum has recently undergone extensive revision and change with the updated program commencing in Year 1 2023 and will be fully implemented by 2026. The updated program involves year-long integrated courses with progressively increasing clinical experience. The new program is based around six key themes: Safe and Effective Clinician; Critical Thinker; Scientist and Scholar; Advocate for Health Improvement; Dynamic Learner and Educator; Kind and Compassionate Professional; and Partner and Team Player. Under the new program students are allocaed to one of four Learning Communities in the Greater Brisbane Clinical School, or to the Rural Clinical School, or to the Ochsner Clinical School.

Implications of the updated UQ MD for GP Clinical Teachers

The biggest change for GP Clinical Teachers is that students will now have two opportunites to experience general practice during their training.

All Year 2 students undertake a longitudinal placement in general practice for one day per week over approximately 14 weeks; AND
From 2026, all Year 4 students will undertake an immersive placement in general practice for more than 30 half-day sessions over 8 weeks, prior to a pre-intern experience. From 2026, this Year 4 placement replaces the Year 3 immersive 6-week placement.

* Year 2 students are not expected to make up sessions as part of any missed placement.

Handbook for GP Clinical Teachers

Resources for GP Clinical Teachers

Teaching in general practice

Updates for 2025

Teaching guides

Claiming CPD points for teaching medical students in general practice:

RACGP instructions
ACRRM, instructions as per below:
1. Login, Go to ‘My PD portfolio’
2. Choose ‘Add an activity’
3. Choose ‘Educational activity’
4. Select ‘Teaching programs – presenting/facilitating/instructing’
5. Complete the activity details.

GP2U: Experienced GP teachers offer tips and talk about challenges for teaching in general practice

Good teaching articles

If you are unable to access the full text, please email Associate Professor Nancy Sturman to send you the full article (and submit the Academic Title application in order to access the University of Queensland Library ).

Teaching about ethics and professionalism in general practice

General Practice placement (Year 2)

The Year 2 Longitudinal General Practice Placements is a 14 week placement undertaken in the second year of the new medical program. The components of the placement are:

- Clinical placements in teaching General Practices

- 2 x small group tutorials

Assessments during this placement include:

- Student learning logs

- Mini-CEXs (1x history, 1x physical examination)

- Observed clinical assessments x 5

- Reflective letter to GP

For more information please refer to the Handbook for GP Clinical teachers in the link above. If you are still unable to find the information you're after, please contact med.mdgp@uq.edu.au.

General Practice placement (Years 3 and 4)

The General Practice placement is a six week clinical block currently undertaken in either the third or fourth year of the medical program (as well as fourth year students studying at the Ochsner Clinical School in New Orleans). The three components of the placement are:

Clinical placements in teaching general practices;
Weekly small group tutorials; and
Electronic learning materials developed and/or curated by the Mayne Academy of General Practice.

The placement is designed to support students to develop their clinical skills and to learn about -

The discipline of general practice and general practice as a specialist career;
Primary care and its interface with other health services; and
A broad spectrum of clinical and ethical presentations which present and/or are managed in general practice.

For more information -

Senior Student and Academic Administration Officer (General Practice): Matthew Bloxsom

Student Coordinator: Natalie Best and Megan Harris

Academic Coordinators: Associate Professor Nancy Sturman and Associate Professor Michaela Kelly

Applying for a UQ Academic Title

Apply for an Academic Title - In recognition of your contribution to the General Practice placement, we have a number of opportunities available for GP teachers to apply for an Academic Title.

Please click here for a PDF outlining the step-by-step instructions for applying for an Academic Title. Please use these instructions, along with the accompanying video below, as a helpful guide. The video will be updated shortly for 2025.

Master of Medicine - MMed (Skin Cancer)

Graduates will have a level of knowledge and diagnostic skill that will enable them to effectively manage a large proportion of skin cancer in their clinical work.

UQ’s postgraduate Skin Cancer medicine program is designed to give training in the biology, diagnosis and principles of management of skin cancer. It is suitable for doctors and health practitioners wishing to enhance their knowledge and skills in this area of practices. Both Graduate Certificate (1 year part-time) and Master (2 year part-time) level programs are available in this entirely external training. Further information is available here.

For more information -

Program Convenor: Associate Professor Paul Fishburn

Our vision is an evidence-based primary care system that places the whole person at its heart and provides high-quality care for all. General practice spans the depth and breadth of human experience, providing relationship-centered care for people throughout their lives in the context of their family, community, and other healthcare providers. The diverse nature of general practice, and the diverse communities we serve, is reflected in the diversity of our research interests.

We hold a research seminar alternate Wednesdays 12-1pm. Please contact us if you would like to be on the invite list for seminars. Attendance via zoom is an option.

The General Practice Clinical Unit Research Strategic Plan 2022 - 2025 can be found here.

RELEASE: REdressing Long-tErm Antidepressant uSE

Research Leads: Professor Katharine Wallis (Clinician Lead), A/Professor Maria Donald (Implementation Lead)

Aim: The RELEASE study will evaluate effectiveness of the RELEASE intervention which has been designed to prompt medication review, support shared decision-making, and guide safe discontinuation of long-term antidepressants where there is no clinical indication for ongoing use.

Contact: release.study@uq.edu.au

Screening toolkit for older driver medical assessment

Research Team: Professor Katharine Wallis, Associate Professor Geoff Spurling and Louise Bassingthwaighte.

Aim: The 3-Domains screening toolkit has been developed for use in general practice during annual driver licence medical assessment in older drivers (>75 years). The toolkit assesses across the three functional domains essential for driving (sensory, motor, and cognitive) and generates a combined predictive score of likelihood the older driver would pass on-road driving assessment (%). This score can be used by GPs in practice to inform clinical judgement and to support conversations with older drivers about health and fitness to drive, the need for further testing, and/or planning for eventual driving cessation.

PARTNER Network

QLD Clinical Lead: Professor Katharine Wallis

QLD State Coordinator: Natalii Paczkowski

The PARTNER Network is a national network of rural and remote research-ready GP practices developed to support rural participation in research, including teletrials in primary care. The PARTNER Network builds capacity in rural, regional and remote general practice and primary care in clinical trial development and participation creating opportunities for rural Australians, primary health care professionals, researchers and industry.

The PARTNER Network is part of the Australian Teletrial Program led by Queensland Health and funded by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) National Critical Infrastructure Initiative.

UQGP Research network

Director: Professor Katharine Wallis

UQGP Research is a practice-based research network (PBRN) supporting collaboration between general practitioners, GP practices and University of Queensland researchers.

The network aims to conduct research in general practice to develop the evidence-base to improve primary health care and outcomes for patients. We work together, combining complementary skills and resources.

Higher Degrees by Research (HDR)

UQ General Practice is very supportive of postgraduate students and higher degrees by research are offered on a full or part-time basis to accomodate clinical practice.

Here is what Associate Professor Geoff Spurling, one of our current PhD students has to say about his experience in UQ General Practice:

"UQ General Practice has been very generous in providing me with the resources to get my thesis off the ground. After a year in, I felt like a blind man flailing about in a room trying to find the boundaries. My UQ General Practice supervisors have helped me find the edges.

Primary care research may not have the charisma of laboratory-based research but I think this thesis has the potential to benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the community where I work as a clinician and it wouldn't have been possible without UQ General Practice."

For more information regarding research conducted within our research streams, please click on the links below.

View HDR program information:

Find out more about our research areas.

Visit the Graduate School site for further details on the application process and more information on studying a higher degree by research at the University of Queensland.

If you are interested in pursuing a HDR in UQ General Practice, please email UQ General Practice who can help direct you to a potential supervisor within your area of interest.

Potential advisors and their areas of research may also be found on UQ RESEARCHERS or UQ Experts.

Emma Baillie

Antimicrobial stewardship in primary care

D r Ben Mitchell

The prevalence and determinants of immunisation in older Australians by GP registrars: a secondary analysis of ReCEnT data

Alice Pender

Chad Reiger

Examining the complexities of the community networks limiting the uptake of biosimilar medications in the Australian healthcare system

Dr Hayley Thomas

Dr Andrew Webster

Sophie Wen

UQ Academic Title Holders

Summer Scholars

2020/2021

Abtin Vatan Doust

Title: "Did COVID change antibiotic prescribing in Australian primary care?”

Synopsis: Analysis of the effect of COVID on dispensed use of antibiotics, GP consultations, and notifications for influence and ILI using an ecological approach.

Supervisors: Mieke van Driel (PCCU), Samantha Hollingworth, Greg Merlo (PCCU)

Paola Vasquez Vasquez

Title: “Systematic review of prioritisation tools for funding decisions regarding rare diseases and orphan drugs: What are the new analysis approaches?"

Synopsis: A systematic literature review was conducted to explore different methods to evaluate the society's values and preferences as a part of health technology assessments in rare diseases and orphan drugs. From this primary purpose, five specific objectives were proposed: 1) to analyse the importance of including social values and preferences into the health technology assessment in rare diseases and orphan drugs; 2) to describe methods that evaluate society's values and preferences into the health technology assessment context, such as the multicriteria decision analysis (MCDA), the discrete choice experiment (DCE), the person trade-off method (PTO), the rule of rescue (RR), analytic hierarchy process, among others; 3) to analyse these methods' reliably as effective tools to capture the society values and preferences into the health technology assessment context in rare diseases and orphan drugs; 4) to compare the outcomes pilot studies about these tools in the context of rare diseases and orphan drugs in different settings; 5) to generate a reflection about the implementation of these instruments as a part of the health technology assessments and the sanitary policies decision-making process in the context of rare diseases and orphan drugs.

Supervisors: Lisa Hall (Principal Supervisor); Greg Merlo (Associate Supervisor)

Hollis Steeves

Title: What do pre-clinical year 2 medical students want to learn in a placement in General Practice in the time of the COVID19 pandemic?

Supervisors: Dr Alison Green & Dr Margaret Henderson

Funding Source:: Faculty of Medicine - UQ Student Employability Centre

2014/2015

Annabel Chau

Title: Student involvement in general practice consultations: the experience of year 2 urban LInCC students.

Supervisor: Associate Professor Marie-Louise Dick

Funding Source: Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland

The Mayne Academy of General Practice offers full and part-time positions in academic general practice. These positions provide a year of advanced training in academic general practice to interested general practice registrars.

Academic posts are part of Australian General Practice Training and provide training in an academic setting. Registrars will undertake a research project and contribute to teaching, professional service and leadership. As well as developing research skills, registrars can develop skills in teaching and student assessment, planning and evaluation or teaching and academic project work. A senior academic supervisor provides guidance, mentorship, supervision, and feedback.

The Mayne Academy of General Practice is highly supportive of academic registrars and provides a nurturing environment where academic skills can be developed. Training posts can be structured to meet the specific needs of individual registrars.

Current GP Academic Registrars

Dr Shane Delisser

Dr Shane Delisser is currently undertaking an Academic Post at the General Practice Clinical Unit in 2023. During the Academic Post he has undertaken research in LGBT+ healthcare education, focusing on Medical Educator comfort levels, barriers, and enablers to providing inclusive LGBT+ teaching and learning.

Shane has been involved in GP course assessment and examination along with the tutorial of 3rd year medical students in their General Practice Rotation.

““Over the past 12 months, the Academic Post has highlighted how diverse General Practice can be and has provided me with an incredible opportunity to explore another side of medicine. The ability to step away from the day-to-day clinical practice and engage in teaching, research and education has been such a rewarding process. Having the ability to engage with students in tutorials to assist in their learning, in addition to the development of assessment and curriculum for the medical course has been such a fantastic experience. Whilst working here at GPCU, I have had the opportunity to learn about academic research and the opportunity to conceptualise, develop and undertake my own project under the supervision and guidance of the fantastic academic team. If any GP registrar was considering undertaking an Academic Post, I would strongly encourage them to jump right in and apply.”

Contact us

If you have your own project idea, please contact us to discuss your plans.

For more information about academic registrar posts in general, contact Dr Ben Mitchell.

Past GP Academic Registrars

2021

Dr Isaac Tranter

Patient perceptions of doctors accessing digital information during general practice consultations

2020

Dr Neha Pandeya

Identifying the correlates for suicidal thoughts in a cohort of urban Indigenous Australians: a cross-sectional study of 1 year of health assessment data from the Southern Queensland Centre of Excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Primary Health Care

Pandeya, Neha A., Schluter, Philip J., Spurling, Geoffrey K., Tyson, Claudette, Hayman, Noel E. and Askew, Deborah A. (2021). Factors associated with thoughts of self-harm or suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to urban primary care: an analysis of de-identified clinical data. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 19 (1) 153, 153. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19010153

Dr Isaac Tranter

GP registrars’ experience with and barriers and facilitators to provision of immunization in Australians over 65 years

Isaac Tranter, Parker Magin , Mieke L van Driel (2021) Immunising older Australians: Pre-COVID-19 vaccine perspectives from general practice training. Australian Journal of General Practice. DOI: 10.31128/AJGP-02-21-5844

2018

Dr Alison Green

Diagnosing and providing initial management for patients with Gestational Diabetes: What is the General Practitioner’s experience?

Green, Alison, Callaway, Leonie, McIntyre, H. David and Mitchell, Ben (2020). Diagnosing and providing initial management for patients with Gestational Diabetes: What is the General Practitioner’s experience?. Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice, 166 108290, 108290. doi: 10.1016/j.diabres.2020.108290

Dr Hayley Thomas

Practitioners’ Understanding of and Experiences Regarding Whole Person Care: A Qualitative Study

Thomas, H., M. Best, and G. Mitchell, Whole-person care in general practice: Factors affecting the provision of whole-person care. Aust J Gen Pract, 2020. 49(4): p. 215-220.

Thomas, H., M. Best, and G. Mitchell, Whole-person care in general practice: The doctor-patient relationship. Aust J Gen Pract, 2020. 49(3): p. 139-144.

Thomas, H., M. Best, and G. Mitchell, Whole-person care in general practice: The nature of whole-person care. Aust J Gen Pract, 2020. 49(1-2): p. 54-60.

Deckx, L., et al., General practitioners' practical approach to initiating end-of-life conversations: a qualitative study. Fam Pract, 2019.

Thomas, H., et al., General practitioners' considerations when deciding whether to initiate end-of-life conversations: a qualitative study. Fam Pract, 2019.

Thomas, H., M. Best, and G. Mitchell, Health Care Homes and whole-person care: A qualitative study of general practitioners' views. Aust J Gen Pract, 2019. 48(12): p. 867-874.

2017

Emma Pappalardo

Emma Pappalardo, Parker Magin, Amanda Tapley, Andrew Davey, Elizabeth G Holliday, Jean Ball, Neil Spike, Kristen FitzGerald, Simon Morgan, Mieke L van Driel (2020). General practice registrars' experiences of antenatal care: A cross-sectional analysis. Aust NZ J Obstet Gynaecol. DOI: 10.1111/ajo.13042

Dr Hayley Thomas

A Systematic Review of Whole Person Care in General Practice: The Current Understanding of Whole Person Care and Factors Influencing its implementation.

Thomas, H., et al., Definition of whole person care in general practice in the English language literature: a systematic review. BMJ Open, 2018. 8(12): p. e023758.

Dr Ryan Williams

Sturman N, Williams R, Ostini R, Wyder M, Siskind D. 'A really good GP': Engagement and satisfaction with general practice care of people with severe and persistent mental illness. Aust J Gen Pract. 2020 Jan-Feb;49(1-2):61-65.

Sturman N, Williams R, Wyder M, Lynch J. Heard, known, and safe in general practice? An interview study with patients with severe and persistent mental illness. BJGP Open 2022; DOI: 10.3399/BJGPO.2021.0201

Awards:

Audience Prize, RACGP QLD research session: Barriers and enablers to primary care for patients with severe and persistent mental illness. Williams, R., Siskind, D., Wyder, M., and Sturman, N. (2018).

Tutor of the Year Award, UQ MD Year 1, 2020.

We publish and distribute regular newsletters to provide GP Clincial Teachers with information regarding the Mayne Academy, teaching tips, articles and more.

2025

February 2025

2024

November 2024 I August 2024 | May 2024 I February 2024

2023

November 2023 | August 2023 | May 2023 | February 2023

2022

November 2022 | August 2022 | May 2022 | February 2022

2021

November 2021 | August 2021 | June 2021 | February 2021

2020

August 2020 | May 2020 | February 2020