Education & Training
Education & Training
The 2009-2010 Federal Budget introduced a new Medicare item for GPs who have not completed accredited Mental Health Skills Training (MHST).The changes and the new item number took effect on 1 January 2010. The General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration (GPMHSC) will inform Medicare Australia of GPs who have completed Mental Health Skills Training (previously known as Level 1 training) since 1 July 2001. These GPs will then be able to continue claiming item number 2710 and attract a higher Medicare rebate. GPs who have not completed MHST will need to use the new MBS item number 2702 when claiming for a Mental Health Treatment Plan and will attract a lower rebate.
Finding a Mental Health Skills Training course
There are several accredited courses available for GPs, some of which are on-line. For a complete list of course go to the GPMHSC website and search both the national and NSW sections. The website is at:
http://www.racgp.org.au/gpmhsc
Anxiety Accross the Ages and Stages of Life
Anxiety Accross the Ages and Stages of Life is an on-line Mental Health Skills Training course that GP NSW have developed in partnership with NSW Health and ThinkGP. It is free to GPs and clinicians accross Australia. The Royal Australian College of Nurses has also awarded CNE points for the program.
It is one of the few MHST courses that has been accredited in the current training triennium.
Later this year NSW Health will be launching a community awareness advertising campaign about Anxiety Disorders with one of the key messages being 'Go and see your GP'. The MHST course hopes to go some way in further preparing GPs to identify and manage patients with Anxiety Disorders.
Click here to view the flyer.
Other helpful websites include:
Black Dog Institute –provides a comprehensive list of education packages for general practices. For more detailed information see:
http://www.blackdoginstiture.org.au
ThinkGP education – Genesis Ed provides a range of education and training modules for general practice. An online Mental Health Skills Training course is available under the Active Learning Module tab on the website:
http://www.genesised.com.au
NSW Institute of Psychiatry – provides post graduate distance education for GPs and registrars wanting to advance their skills and knowledge in mental health. There are scholarships available for GPs working and residing in NSW and the ACT who undergo the masters program (Graduate Certificate, Graduate Diploma and Masters). For more information go to:
http://www.nswiop.nsw.edu.au
Australian College of Rural and Remote Medicine – provides a number of MHST courses as well as an Advanced Skills in Focus Psychological Strategies course. For more information go to:
http://www.acrrm.org.au