Joining a Subcommittee is one of the best ways to get more involved in AAAPC. It is a great way to meet and work alongside colleagues from all over the organisation. You should have received an email inviting you to participate in a poll to indicate your interest in joining a Subcommittee last week.

As a quick recap, the three Subcommittees presently seeking members are as follows:

• Membership and Marketing Subcommittee (Chair Dr Lauralie Richard) If you enjoy thinking and working creatively, and you have marketing, social media, video-editing and graphic design skills, this subcommittee is for you! We are a dynamic group of people from different disciplines with different skills. We welcome you to expand your network with us!
• Early Career Researcher and Capacity Development Subcommittee (Chair Dr Rita McMorrow) This interdisciplinary group of early career researchers and graduate research students supports primary care ECRs and students to explore academic opportunities, expand networks and build research-related skills. We welcome any member, particularly if you are currently working in New Zealand.
• Primary Care Education Subcommittee (Chair Dr Kylie Vuong) This is the newest subcommittee of AAAPC established after the AGM held end of July 2020. If you believe that primary care-oriented health care and research are underpinned by excellent evidence and education, then you need to join this subcommittee! 

To express your interest or to find out more, click on the link in the button below.

NAPCRG Annual Meeting Nov 2020 - Early Bird Registration Closing Very Soon

This year, the NAPCRG Annual Meeting will be a Virtual Meeting. This is a great opportunity for those of us from New Zealand and Australia to attend such a large international academic primary care conference from the comfort of home.

Early bird registrations close on October 15 (just a couple of days away!) To register or find out more, see the attachment below or head to their website.

Why NAPCRG 2020 Annual Meeting flyer.pdf

AAAPC 2020 Travelling Fellowship - Apply Now!

The AAAPC Travelling Fellowship has been reviewed in 2020 in light of the global pandemic which is restricting travel and to take account of the increasing financial constraints that are being experienced by our members. 

The 2020 Fellowship is available for any purpose likely to meet the stated aims of the program. It is designed to assist members of AAAPC (of one year or more) to undertake academic activities including costs associated with carrying out research, dissemination, professional development and impact. It does not have to be used exclusively for travel purposes. For more information please see the relevant page of the website and the Information Package on the website. 

Applications are welcome for amounts up to $1000. A total fellowship pool of $3000 is available. One fellowship of up to $1000 will be specifically allocated to a First Nations applicant (eligible application dependent).

The closing date for applications is November 4. Early career researchers are strongly encouraged to apply!

AAAPC Responses to Consultation Papers

At the AAAPC our mission is to be Australia and New Zealand’s leading advocate for high-quality primary care research, education, policy and practice. Where possible, we seek to respond to consultation papers on issues of relevance to the academic primary care community. In recent months we have provided responses to two external calls:

• Medical Research Future Fund consultation to inform the third Australian Medical Research and Innovation Priorities 2020-2022
• Consultation paper for the development of the National Preventive Health Strategy

Visit our Resources page to access the full responses.

News from the Early Career Researcher and Capacity Development Subcommittee

Rita McMorrow, Chair, on behalf of the Early Career Researcher and Capacity Development Subcommittee, would like to thank Andrea Hernan and Rebekah Hoffman for their contributions to the Early Career Research and Capacity Development subcommittee over the past year. We welcome Asvini Subasinghe and Renee Fiolet to the subcommittee. Asvini is a Research Fellow on the SPHERE CRE at the Department of General Practice, Monash University. Renee is a PhD candidate at the Department of General Practice at the University of Melbourne and a Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Deakin University.

On October 7^th the AAAPC Early Career Researcher and Capacity Development subcommittee hosted a webinar with A/Prof Lauren Ball. Lauren, who was recently awarded a 2020 Griffith University Vice Chancellor Research Excellence Award, shared how she used her research niche to develop momentum, made social media a key component of her impact strategy and has developed relationships throughout her career.

Celebrating some AAAPC Members

A shout out to some members who have had some recent publication success:

• Renee Fiolet and team: Indigenous People's Experiences and Expectations of Health Care Professionals When Accessing Care for Family Violence: A Qualitative Evidence Synthesis

• Amy Bestman and team: The Rohingya Little Local: exploring innovative models of refugee engagement in Sydney, Australia

• Jason Chiang and team: Multimorbidity, glycaemic variability and time in target range in people with type 2 diabetes: A baseline analysis of the GP-OSMOTIC trial

I know that this list does not comprehensively include the many achievements of all of our members (apologies). But please send me an email at melinda.choy@anu.edu.au when you or another member you know has a new publication out or receives an award so that we can all celebrate them!

AAAPC Member Announcement - PhD Scholarship Opportunity: Improving the delivery of healthcare in general practice

The Implementing work-related mental health guidelines in general PRacticE (IMPRovE) team is offering a PhD scholarship to conduct an implementation science project in primary care. This fantastic opportunity would suit someone who sees themselves as a future leader in implementation science. The candidate will learn and develop the field of knowledge translation and improve professional behaviour change, setting themselves up for either a future in academia or in policy or practice settings. 

Further details about the scholarship opportunity can be found here.

Welcome to New AAAPC Members

We warmly welcome all new members to AAAPC - if you would like your bio to be published in the monthly newsletter, please email aaapc.secretariat@anu.edu.au This is a great way to build networks within our community.