25^th May 2023

To: Certified GP Teachers registered in the speciality for at least 4 years by January 2024

cc:        The Chief Executive Officer, Primary HealthCare

The Clinical Chairperson, Primary HealthCare

The Hon. Secretary, Malta College of Family Doctors

Dear Colleague,

Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine:

Call for applications for posts of GP Trainer

The Department of Primary HealthCare is seeking certified GP teachers for posts of GP Trainers within the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine to supervise new GP Trainees as from January 2024.

Applicants must:

• be established family doctors who will have been registered and practising for 4 years as specialists in family medicine by January 2024, are fully accredited members of the Malta College of Family Doctors (MCFD), have undergone training as teachers in family medicine, and are accredited as teachers in family medicine by the MCFD;
• either work within the government health centres on a full-time basis or on reduced hours (at least 20 hours per week), or else practice in full-time or part-time private family practice (at least 20 hours a week).

Primary Health Care GP tutors working in Malta and Gozo health centres can apply for this call. The eventual decision on whether GP tutors working in Gozo will be included in the allocation process will depend on:

1. Whether the new Gozo HC will be operational in Jan 2024
2. The doctor complement distribution which is at the total discretion of the Clinical Chair.

For this call only, applications will also be received from:

1. applicants who are not currently practicing family medicine for at least 20 hours a week as long as they apply to jointly share the post on a fifty-fifty basis with a GP trainer who currently practices family medicine for at least 20 hours a week. The non-clinical trainer will be responsible for providing the weekly one-to-one tutorials, the six-monthly performance review meeting, the annual appraisal and three Case-Based Discussions / three Video Analyses per 3-month family medicine (FM) post. The clinical trainer will be responsible for supervising the trainee during the FM posts and for providing during each 3-month FM post the Educational Plan / one Case-Based Discussion / one Video Analysis / one set of Multi-Source Feedback forms / one set of Consultation Satisfaction Questionnaires / the Trainee interim review by GP trainer. The Malta College of Family Doctors reserves the right to review these sharing arrangements if needed.

GP trainers who will already have one GP trainee attached to them as from January 2024 may apply but will be considered only if there are not enough applications from GP trainers who will not have a GP trainee as from January 2024.

 

The allocation process will be held according to the relevant Standard Operating Procedure approved by the Specialist Training Committee in Family Medicine. Please note that both non-contracted and contracted (with one GP trainee) GP trainers will be included in the initial pool of GP trainers available to the GP trainees. However, once enough contracted GP trainers are allocated, to make sure that all the rest of non-contracted GP trainers can fulfil the trainer requirement of the remaining trainees, the remaining trainees will be allocated to GP trainers who do not yet have a trainee (non-contracted). This is the same process that was in place for previous years’ allocation process and which was met with good overall feedback.

Please note that:

• A Private GP appointed as trainer and his/her GP Trainee are invited to work 4 hours per week (out of the weekly quota of hours the trainee is assigned to the trainer) together in a health centre, with the trainer (if s/he accepts) being remunerated at the part-time rate of 20 Euro per hour.
• Private GP trainers shall be required to be available to clinically supervise GP trainees on a 2 month part-time placement when the GP trainer has space available; this will necessarily include the time period when the GP trainer’s assigned trainee/s is/are performing hospital placements.
• All appointed GP trainers are required to actively participate in (at least once yearly) and co-deliver trainers’ CPD meetings when required and as directed by the post-graduate training coordinator/s. All appointed GP trainers are also required to deliver at least one HDRC teaching session to GP trainees in the 3 year training period of their GP trainees.

The yearly remuneration of a GP trainer who has one GP trainee assigned to him/her is €7355 according to the current government – Medical Association of Malta collective agreement.

For a GP trainer who has two GP trainees assigned to him/her, remuneration of the first GP trainee shall be as above. The remuneration of the second GP trainee is €5980 per annum pegged at the afternoon rate of €115 per session.

For GP trainers who are jointly supervising a GP trainee with another GP trainer on a fifty-fifty basis, the remuneration shall be fifty per-cent of the above rates.

Selected GP trainers will need to enter into a Contract for Service with Primary HealthCare.

Please complete the attached GP Trainer Application & Information Form and e-mail it with a CV to anne-marie.scerri@gov.mt by Wednesday 7^th June 2023.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Gunther Abela – Postgraduate Training Coordinator in Family Medicine

Dr Sonia Abela, Dr Glorianne Pullicino, Dr Anne-Marie Scerri – Assistant Postgraduate Training Coordinators in Family Medicine

________________________________________________________________________

Primary HealthCare Department, 7 Harper Lane, Floriana FRN 1940, MALTA

Website: http://stpfm.gov.mt

Enc.:    GP Trainer Application & Information Form – May 2023

GP Trainer Application & Information Form-25thMay2023