Jacqueline Schroeder, NSWPHC Coordination Unit
 Representatives from the NSWPHC Consortium met in a tranquil setting at the NSW central coast for our 3rd Biennial Program Retreat in November 2009. Twenty-nine representatives from the NSWPHC Consortium of university departments of rural health and general practice in NSW and ACT attended along with representatives from key stakeholder groups including: PHC RIS, General Practice NSW, Australian Government Department of Health & Ageing (DoHA), NSW Health, Aboriginal health, rural groups and primary health care research centres.
The Program Retreat aimed to bring the network together in a relaxed setting, provide information, and promote lively discussion to challenge our current ways of thinking. The current health reform agenda provided a focus for the discussions, resulting in the identification of key implications and recommendations to take to DoHA.
The NSWPHC Consortium has built strong relationships between PHCRED funded university departments, partner organisations and key primary health care stakeholders. We plan to continue a dialogue throughout 2010 to fbuild on our strengths in ways that align with the current reform.
In addition, the Consortium will hold three short courses during 2010. Each short course will provide introductory skills training over 2.5 days, followed by a 1.5 day Project Development Retreat, giving participants the opportunity to build project proposals under expert guidance. One short course is targeted at Researcher Development Program participants at the beginning of their research internship. The other two short courses are conducted in collaboration with General Practice NSW and the NSW Health Institute for Rural Clinical Services and Teaching to build research and evaluation capacity within the Divisions of General Practice and rural Area Health Services respectively.
Another major activity in 2010 will be our 5th Biennial Research & Evaluation Conference on 25-26 November 2010 at the Sydney Marriott Hotel. More information will be available on the website as details emerge. <www.nswphc.unsw.edu.au>
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