General and acute care physicians navigate the intricate web of patient needs, healthcare systems, and diverse medical settings with expertise honed in complexity.

General and acute care physicians are adept at providing pragmatic, integrated care to patients grappling with complex health conditions, encompassing multisystem and undifferentiated presentations. They thrive in collaborative environments and are experts in navigating uncertainty. They serve as the bedrock of service provision, ensuring comprehensive care delivery in dynamic healthcare settings.

General and acute care physicians provide care in a range of diverse settings, demonstrating skills in:

Using a global approach. Regardless of the focus of referrals, the general and acute care physician’s assessment is always comprehensive, enabling problems to be detected and diagnostic possibilities to be considered that might otherwise be missed.

Integrated care. General and acute care physicians are uniquely trained to provide integrated care for patients facing complex illnesses and diagnostic challenges. Their extensive training equips them with expertise in diagnosing and treating conditions that affect multiple systems, while also addressing the social and psychological impacts of disease.

Embracing uncertainty. General and acute care physicians demonstrate a unique ability to embrace uncertainty, manage risks, and tackle diagnostic challenges, contradictions, and conflicting priorities with confidence and thoroughness, ensuring comprehensive care.

Being diagnostic experts. General and acute care physicians excel in diagnosing complex medical conditions, using diagnostic tests judiciously and effectively to investigate challenging diagnostic issues and formulate comprehensive diagnoses.

Diversity of practise. General and acute care physicians’ diverse practise encompasses perioperative assessment, care in rural, remote, and regional settings, management of “orphan” areas of medicine, Indigenous health care, obstetric care, and the transition to adulthood, ensuring well-placed medical expertise across varied care needs and communities.

General and acute care physicians provide comprehensive evidence-based medical care, make skilled clinical decisions, coordinate with other health professionals, communicate empathetically with patients, advocate for health issues, lead healthcare teams, promote innovation, engage in continuous learning, and focus on equity in complex care for diverse populations. They use these personal and professional attributes to:

  • Provide integrated management

    General and acute care physicians excel in devising integrated management plans that consider therapeutic effectiveness, comorbidity interactions, functional status, life expectancy, patients’ values and goals, and the broader social and environmental context of care.

  • Problem solve

    General and acute care physicians adeptly handle challenging and intricate clinical presentations, skilfully identifying and prioritising care goals, and resolving issues through a flexible and holistic approach.

  • Advocate for patients

    General and acute care physicians consider each patient holistically, incorporating their social backgrounds, belief systems, and preferences into personalised advice and recommendations. They actively address equity concerns and strive to overcome barriers to healthcare access.

  • Communicate effectively

    General and acute care physicians communicate using a patient-centred approach that encourages patient trust and autonomy and is characterised by empathy and respect. They elicit and accommodate a diversity of views and opinions in relation to patients’ care and then negotiate agreed ways forward on the part of all stakeholders.

  • Innovate and lead systems

    General and acute care physicians identify the broad context of healthcare systems, and contribute to strategies that improve the value of healthcare delivery.

  • Teach, learn, and mentor

    General and acute care physicians recognise the power of role modelling and the impact of the hidden curriculum on learners. They promote a safe and appropriately challenging learning environment, demonstrate effective teaching to facilitate learning, identify learning needs of others, and seek and provide meaningful feedback. They engage in continuous improvement and professional development through ongoing learning.

Last modified: Thursday, 27 November 2025, 12:20 PM