Quotation in AAAPC Newsletter (December 2017)

I had a short note on page 5 in the “2017 Highlights” section of the AAAPC Newsletter Vol 7, Issue 2, December 2017. (PDF)

I was probably most proud of my medical student researchers (Belinda Watson, and Abeer Khan) presenting their work at GPTEC 2017.  Belinda, in particular, had completed an excellent project looking at the transitions of care in older people between ED and general practice, and was the first author of the paper describing the study in AFP (https://vitualis.com/?p=2047).

A GPs Down Under team conducted the first study undertaken within the forum this year, on a pet, and very nerdy, interest of mine – p-values.  Deliciously, it was a mostly qualitative study (we used mixed-methods) of a statistical concept – it makes me feel like a pirate!  The literature suggests that many people use and abuse p-values, with conjectures on why this is the case.  I wanted to collect actual evidence from real people – from experienced clinicians on how they conceptualised p.  I think that we’ve constructed some useful insights from this study on how statistical education could be changed.

Lastly, I’ve recently commenced a senior lecturer position at the University of Sydney in the Discipline of General Practice, and it has been exciting with many new opportunities in the past couple of months.  My role is to assist with some of the international postgraduate programs offered by the Discipline of General Practice.  This probably doesn’t count as a “research” highlight, but I dressed in dapper clothes and participated in the Distinguished Gentleman’s Ride this year, which was a huge amount of fun.  The ride started from the Quadrangle at USyd.