• Allison Thomson, Simon Morgan, Peter O'Mara, Amanda Tapley, Kim Henderson, Mieke van Driel, Christopher Oldmeadow, Jean Ball, John Scott, Neil Spike, Lawrie McArthur, and Parker Magin.
• Discipline of General Practice, University of Newcastle, New South Wales.
• Aust N Z J Public Health. 2016 Apr 1; 40 Suppl 1: S75-80.

ObjectiveGeneral practice is central to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health care, and this area is a core element of Australian general practice (GP) training. We aimed to describe the prevalence, nature and associations of GP registrar encounters with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients.MethodsA cross-sectional analysis from a cohort study of GP registrars' clinical consultations 2010-2013. Registrars record demographic, clinical and educational details of consecutive patient encounters. Multivariable associations were tested with logistic regression.ResultsA total of 592 registrars contributed data from 69,188 consultations. Encounters with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients comprised 1.0% of consultations. Significant positive associations included younger patient age; new patient to the registrar; lower socioeconomic status of practice location; non-urban practice setting; more problems managed; and follow-up arranged. A greater proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients' problems were psychological/social and a lesser proportion were cardiovascular. Consultation duration did not differ between the two groups Conclusions: GP registrars encounter Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients less than do established GPs. Our results suggest possible variability in registrar experience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.ImplicationsOur findings will inform training of a culturally and clinically competent workforce in this area.© 2015 The Authors.

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