ProfessorJan Radford

Highlights

Historically, Tasmanians have experienced poorer health outcomes than populations in other areas of Australia. This is what motivates Prof Jan Radford’s wide-ranging research interests. Tasmanian born and bred; Prof Radford is dedicated to ensuring better health for her community. ‘My vision involves building general practice research infrastructure for the future, thereby increasing Tasmania’s health research capacity.’

Having worked as a GP herself for 40 years, Prof Radford understands the roles research can play in the complex environment of general practice. ‘It’s the place we should be doing research. There’s a perception among students that general practice is an intellectual desert, that it’s not a place that generates research. But my work as a general practitioner has grounded my investigations. Research and clinical practice complement each other.’

Effective data collection in general practices around the state, including rural and regional areas, plus education surrounding the management and uses of such data collections, are an important aspect to achieving her vision.

The advent of Electronic Health Records (EHR) has made access to large datasets – large populations of patients – possible in a general practice setting. EHRs also make clinical auditing in general practice much easier, which likewise leads to large databases of information.

‘I’m primarily a medical educator,’ says Prof Radford. ‘A highlight of my career was receiving $650,000 for an intervention to assist students in gaining practical experience in clinical audit in general practice. All medical clinicians will have to do clinical audit in their careers, so this is an important aspect of their learning.

‘For example, say you want to investigate how well patients with diabetes are being looked after – you can select factors like blood pressure control or blood sugar control, and use software that pulls together all the numbers. It’s been difficult for students to get practical experience in this area. The intervention meant they were able to do so, while the audit gave something back to the general practices involved.

‘Routine data collection also means that the effects of a new treatment, for example, can be monitored, if the information has been coded correctly. It’s vital that people are trained to do this.’

She notes that, ‘In general practice, research infrastructure of practice-based research networks and large EHR datasets are the equivalent of having a decent microscope when undertaking laboratory research.’ Prof Radford is currently collaborating with GP academic colleagues to build a general practice-based network in rural Australia to increase the engagement of rural GP and their patients in clinical trials and other research projects. So far the Tasmanian team she leads has recruited 34 general practices to the network and delivered or is delivering five reserach projects.

‘Education is key,’ explains Prof Radford, who would like to see better pathways developed for general practitioners to gain further research training including to the level of obtaining a PhD. ‘The pathways for GPs to do this are not as easy as for other specialties. We need young GPs to train in academic general practice.’

What’s the most exciting thing about this research? ‘Building infrastructure for the future,’ says Prof Radford. ‘I also enjoy the buzz that comes from collaboration. We’re fortunate that Tasmania has only one university, and UTAS is small enough to find people you can work with well. I do enjoy the camaraderie.

Career

Jan Radford is a Professor in General Practice at the University of Tasmania based in Launceston. She has been a general practitioner for 40 years. She has a long history in curriculum development, delivery and assessment in medicine ranging from undergraduate to postgraduate training. She has an academic research interest in medical education, implementation of improved care delivery  within general practice, and the secondary uses of routinely collected electronic heath record (EHR) data. She has developed, and continues to build, a practice-based research network comprsing  Tasmanian general practices, especially rural practices. She completed her PhD in 2022 researching ways to enhance capacity to deliver medical, undergraduate learning and teaching in general practice.

Biography
Jan was born in Latrobe, Tasmania obtaining her medical degree from the University of Tasmania in 1981. Jan continues to deliver care in the same general practice she joined in 1986. She has had many roles within the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) including that of censor in chief from 2006 – 2010. She is a member of the RACGP’s “Handbook of non-drug Interventions” (HANDI) committee.

Since 2006 she has been a fulltime academic in General Practice at the University of Tasmania, based at the Launceston Clinical School. She is was Director of the Launceston Clinical School from 2021-2025, The Launceston Clinical School trains about 110 students in the last three years of their medical degree. Many students then become interns at the Launceston General Hospital. Many undertake rural general practice terms as interns too. Many ex-students become local GPs and other specialists. 

In 2017 Jan was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to investigate the factors involved in increasing the secondary use of routinely collected general practice EHR data for the greater good. She will travelled to England, Scotland and the Netherlands in late 2018 to undertake her enquiry.

In 2024 she joined the board of the unique Tasmanian organisation, Rural Alive and Well (RAW), which aims to prevent suicide in rural Tasmania. 

Qualifications

Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery (MBBS), University of Tasmania, Australia 1981
Fellow of the Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP), Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australia 20 Feb 1993
Masters of Psychological Medicine (MPsychMed), University of New South Wales, Australia Apr 2001
Master of Education (MEd) University of Tasmania Australia 15 Aug 2009
Fellowship in Advanced Rural General Practice (FARGP), Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, Australia 6 Dec 2013
Associate Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand Association of Healthcare Professional Education (AFANZAHPE), Australia and New Zealand Association of Healthcare Professional Education, Australia and New Zealand May 2017
PhD (education) Dec 2022

Memberships
Professional practice

I am a fellow of the RACGP, a member of the Australasian Association of Academic Primary Care, a member of GPNorth, a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a member of the Australian Association of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, an Associate Fellow of the Australia and New Zealand Association of Healthcare Professional Education (ANZAHPE), a member of the Rural Doctors Association of Tasmania, and a member of the Australian Indigenous Doctors Association.

Administrative expertise
I am a recent Director of the Launceston Clinical School, stepping aside to promote succession planning. I was a partner in a large general practice from 1987 – 2008.