General Practice Research

The General Practice team at UWS are involved in an extensive range of research activities with collaborators at UWS and beyond across the following domains (links to more information on this page): 

Find out about our General Practice team, including contact details: 

Research Values and Strategic Directions

A. Community Engaged
1. Our research is driven by the needs and hopes of the communities where it is based, as defined by those communities.

B. Collaborative
1. Our research participants are partners, not subjects, in our projects. We seek to build a research capacity within primary health care sector and also amongst communities.
2. We collaborate with other researchers to further develop our mutual strengths and promote synergies and economy of efforts.

C. Health Inequities (Social Justice)
1. Our research focuses on areas of need. We work particularly with underserved communities.

D. Outcome focussed
1. Our research informs best practice and thereby improves health and educational outcomes.
2.  We continue to build the capacity of the Department of General Practice to engage effectively in research.

Research Application

If you are interested in collaboration with the UWS Department of General Practice on a research project, please complete our research application (PDF, 123.7 KB). 

Projects marked with an asterix (*) involve opportunities for research by MBBS or PhD students.

Clinical Research

Current/Funded Projects:

Department of General Practice Initiated

  • Acceptability and effectiveness of pneumatic otoscopy and tympanograms in the GP assessment of otitis media in children under 5 years
  • *Cardio-vascular disease in Aboriginal people
  • Lifestyle influences on autoimmune and inflammatory disease

Department of General Practice Partnering

  •  iHope Ear Study
  • A randomised controlled trial of a polypill-based strategy versus usual care among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at high risk of a cardiovascular event
  • Randomised controlled trial of antimicrobial treatment versus watchful waiting for acute otitis media in low risk Aboriginal children

Projects in Development:

Department of General Practice Initiated

  • Patient-initiated use of camera phones in GP consultations

Department of General Practice Partnering

  • Needs assessment of GP dental awareness
  • Early and targeted intervention for hearing disability
  • *Models of GP-Surgeon shared care for colorectal cancer survivors
  • Developing perinatal oral health guidelines for dentists and prenatal care providers in Australia

Community/Public Health

Current/Funded Projects:

  • Department of General Practice Initiated

  • Promoting the timeliness of childhood immunisation in an Aboriginal community through a personalised immunisation calendar

Projects in Development:

  • Understanding and Promoting Health Literacy

Community/ Public Health Research

Current/Funded Projects:

  • Evaluation of Blacktown Australian Better Health Initiative Integration Project
  • Interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and other healthcare providers
  • Investigating the links between resilience burn out and intention to quit among Australian General Practitioners

Projects in Development:

  • Department of General Practice Initiated

  • Airds Bradbury mental health services project
  • Empowering mental health consumers

    Department of General Practice Partnering

  • Understanding and promoting health literacy

Health Services Research

Current/Funded Projects:

  • Department of General Practice Initiated

  • Investigating the links between resilience burn out and intention to quit among Australian General Practitioners
  • General Practitioners and health care for women released from custody

    Department of General Practice Partnering

  • Interprofessional collaboration between pharmacists and other healthcare providers
  • Evaluation of HealthOne initiative at Rouse Hill

Projects in Development:

  • Department of General Practice Initiated

  • WentWest ML &Western Sydney LHD evaluation

    Department of General Practice Partnering

  • Aboriginal people leaving custody

Education Research

Current/Funded Projects:

  • Department of General Practice Initiated

  • Assessment of cultural competence by GP educators
  • *Medical students undertaking primary care placements within Justice Health- What are their experiences?
  • Undergraduate supervisors' needs assessment: the first step to defining a curriculum for undergraduate General Practice supervisors

    Department of General Practice Partnering

  • Building Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Education and Cultural Mentoring Capacity
  • NSW STI Programs - GP and STI Evaluation Research Grant
  • Western Sydney Primary Care Teaching Network project- The impact of interdisciplinary clinical placements on knowledge and attitudes of medical, nursing, physiotherapy and dentistry students.
  • Developing a model for a sustainable teaching program for medical students undertaking clinical placements in Justice Health.

Projects in Development:

  • Department of General Practice Partnering

  • Western Sydney Primary Care Integrated Teaching Network-Development and Evaluation of a Vertical and Horizontal Integrated Teaching Network in Western Sydney
  • Randomised controlled trial of specialist supportive clinical management for early stage eating disorders (GP based RCT.)
  • The Decrease in Earnings Because of Training (DEBT) study: Can GPs afford to train PGPPPs?