Coonamble Aboriginal Health Service employee Daniel Jackman and Cherie Colliss from Wellington Aboriginal Corporation Health Service were two of several staff from Aboriginal medical services from across NSW congratulated at a dinner in Tamworth on Wednesday night for completing a nationally recognised diploma in practice management for Aboriginal medical services.
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The diploma is the first of its kind, developed by NSW general practice training provider, GP Synergy in collaboration with TAFE OTEN, to meet the specific needs of practice managers and staff working in Aboriginal medical service facilities.
"Practice management plays an important role in the effective functioning of any primary healthcare facility," GP Synergy chief executive officer Mr Oldfield said.
"Whilst there are many general practice management diplomas available, none reflect the complex social, cultural, and clinical dimensions that need to be co-ordinated and work in harmony for successful Aboriginal health service delivery.
"To fill this gap, GP Synergy staff and members from our Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Committee worked closely with the TAFE OTEN Western Sydney Institute to develop a certified diploma to improve primary healthcare service delivery for local Aboriginal communities and opportunities for doctors to undertake Aboriginal health training."
Running across six months, 14 staff completed the diploma from Aboriginal medical services at Tamworth, Inverell, Moree, Coonamble, Wellington and south-western Sydney.
Mr Jackman said he was very impressed and grateful for the opportunity to participate in the diploma, finding the opportunity to interact with other Aboriginal health services invaluable.
"It was a fantastic experience to learn what other Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services have done or are doing, sharing ideas and creating or strengthening links between the services," Mr Jackman said.
"The mixture of delivery of the diploma was excellent and allowed for individuals to learn in a way and speed that best suited them.
"Learning a program designed for mainstream practices as a collective group from Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services really helped raise discussions, awareness and shared solutions and how they could be adapted to the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services model."