Futures

By the time we were GP registrars, education was already woven into our practice, but we noticed that exam preparation in general practice was still highly variable, inefficient, and largely under supported. Looking beyond our initial stages of offering tutoring to a small circle of students each year, we saw an opportunity to build something structured, scalable, and genuinely designed around how real registrars learn.

So our move into GP education wasn’t a “pivot” away from clinical work, it was a continuation of a pattern that started in high school and evolved with each stage of training. AceGP is simply the formalisation of a passion we’ve always had; helping others learn, but doing it in a way that actually works at scale.

What is the product/work you are leading?
We are the co-founders of AceGP, a next-generation learning platform built specifically for GP registrars preparing for the RACGP written exams (AKT & KFP). Our focus is not just content – it’s cognitive science, spaced learning, analytics, and exam performance coaching, all embedded in a single, smart platform.

AceGP is already used by multiple GP clinic groups and numerous individual GP registrars across Australia. Our goal is not just to help GP registrars pass exams, but to raise the standard of Australian general practice beyond route learning content for exams.

What do you see as some of the enablers and barriers to educational innovation in primary care in Australia?
There is a clear shift happening in GP education, as more registrars recognise that traditional rote learning and passive revision don’t match the way clinicians actually think or the way modern exams are structured. One of the biggest enablers is the move toward personalised, data-driven study; something which is already well-established in other high-stakes exams like the UCAT and GAMSAT, where candidates use analytics, adaptive learning, and structured revision rather than studying blindly. In contrast, those kinds of tools have been largely absent in GP specialty training, which is why platforms like AceGP are emerging to fill that gap. There is now growing acceptance that education in general practice needs to be structured, interactive, and tailored instead of one-size-fits-all.

The barriers are mostly practical, not philosophical. Registrars are studying while working full-time and often juggling family or on-call commitments, which makes consistency difficult. Supervisors do have protected teaching time, but they rarely get a full picture of a registrar’s knowledge gaps because most learning happens in the consulting room, out of direct observation. Many supervisors also trained years before the current AKT and KFP formats existed, so although they’re excellent clinicians, they may not be up-to-date on exam strategy, marking style, or common pitfalls. So even highly motivated trainees can feel under-supported, not through lack of effort from either side, but because the system hasn’t kept up to speed with how modern learning and assessment work. The opportunity now is to build education that fits into real GP life and gives supervisors, registrars, and training organisations access to the same data-driven picture of progress.

What do you think the future of general practice looks like?
General practice will continue to be the backbone of the Australian healthcare system, but the expectations on GPs are changing faster than ever. Medicine is evolving at a pace no individual can fully keep up with; new guidelines, new treatments, new screening pathways, and constant updates across every specialty. Unlike other specialists, GPs don’t get to focus on a narrow field; they are expected to know a bit of everything, all the time, from childhood rashes to complex multimorbidity to emerging pharmacotherapy. As careers progress, most GPs naturally develop areas of interest and attract certain types of patients, which means other clinical areas become less familiar and easier to lose touch with. The future of general practice will therefore rely on lifelong learning that is smarter than the current “complete 50 CPD hours and hope it sticks” model. We need data-driven systems that identify knowledge gaps, refresh areas we no longer see regularly, and support active recall rather than passive reading, so that GPs can stay confident, safe, and current across decades of practice, not just during training.

Why is it important GPs are involved in health innovation/new technology design?
Our work isn’t in clinical health-tech, but the same principle applies in education: tools designed for general practice only work when they’re shaped by people who actually understand the realities of the job. We saw that registrars needed smarter, data-driven learning support that matched how they study while working full-time, rather than relying on passive or outdated resources. That’s why GP-led input matters – whether it’s for AI scribes in clinics or digital learning platforms, the best solutions come from people who have lived the workload, time pressures and decision-making of real primary care, not from the outside looking in.

What would you say to early career doctors about general practice and primary healthcare?
General practice is the most diverse and rewarding clinical specialty you can choose. You’ll never see the same day twice, and you’ll use every part of your medical training. It’s a field where relationships matter as much as diagnoses, and where you get to care for patients over years, not just during a single admission. It also offers huge scope to shape your own career – whether you want to teach, do procedural work, build a niche interest, or balance medicine with family or other passions. If you want a specialty with flexibility, variety, autonomy and real human connection, primary care is an incredibly rewarding place to be.

What is the product/work you are leading?
As Chief Medical Officer at Honeysuckle Health, I’m currently leading work at the intersection of clinical practice and technology. My focus is on supporting responsible integration of emerging technologies — including AI — into general practice. This isn’t about replacing the human doctor–patient relationship but strengthening it. I help clinicians and organisations understand how to harness tools that can free up time, reduce administrative load, and improve patient outcomes. My role often involves bridging two worlds: translating the realities of frontline primary care to technology developers, while also helping GPs feel empowered and equipped to shape the tools being built for them.

What do you see as some of the enablers and barriers to health innovation in primary care in Australia?
Enablers:

• The strong tradition of GP leadership and collegial networks in Australia, which provide fertile ground for collaboration.
• Increasing recognition from government and funders that primary care is the foundation of a sustainable health system.
• The appetite among younger doctors for new approaches and technologies that align with their values.

Barriers:

• Fragmented funding models and short-term policy cycles, which make it hard to scale innovations sustainably.
• Clinician workload and burnout, which often mean there’s limited headspace to engage with new tools.
• Mistrust or disconnect between tech developers and clinicians, where solutions are built without genuine understanding of general practice realities.

What do you think the future of general practice looks like?
I see general practice remaining the backbone of the health system — but evolving into a more team-based, tech-enabled, and patient-centred environment. The GP of the future will still be the trusted clinician who holds the long-term story of the patient, but they’ll be supported by smarter systems, data-driven insights, and multidisciplinary teams. Routine administrative tasks will increasingly be automated, allowing more time for human connection, which is what patients value most. If we get it right, general practice will become more attractive, sustainable, and fulfilling as a career.

Why is it important GPs are involved in health innovation/new technology design?
Because lived experience matters. GPs understand the rhythm of a consultation, the pressures of a busy day, and the subtle relational aspects of care that can’t be captured in a spreadsheet. If innovation happens without our voice, tools will miss the mark — and worse, may add to the burden rather than relieve it. By being actively involved, GPs can ensure new technologies are safe, ethical, usable, and truly supportive of patient care. We’re also advocates for equity: making sure solutions don’t just serve the tech-savvy few but reach the communities most in need.

What would you say to early career doctors about general practice/primary healthcare?
I would say that general practice offers one of the richest and most human careers in medicine. You are invited into people’s lives at every stage — from newborns to centenarians — and you have the privilege of continuity and trust that few other specialties can offer. The breadth keeps you intellectually challenged, while the relationships keep you grounded and inspired. Yes, the system has its pressures, but you are also entering at a time of great opportunity: to reimagine how care is delivered, to shape the tools of the future, and to be part of a profession that matters profoundly to the health of our society.