Curriculum for General Practice - The Royal New Zealand College ...

A Adolescent/Rangatahi/Youth Health
Clinical Expertise
The GP will demonstrate the ability to:
• recognise levels of cognitive and physical development,
and distinguish between normal and abnormal
developmental changes in young people
• assess mental status, paying particular attention to
suicide risk
• recognise the potential for enhanced risk-taking in
those with disabilities or chronic illness
• perform appropriate testing and treating for STIs, and
differentiate between screening and symptomatic testing
• assess young people using an appropriate framework
(e.g. HEADSSS), taking into account the impact of
cultural issues, including the impacts of immigration
on young people and their family/whānau
• provide competent contraceptive advice and education
on safe sex
• manage common health conditions presenting in youth
• anticipate and address potential issues with prescribing
– financial, safe storage and use of medications,
medication sharing
• identify risk and resilience factors
• understand key developmental tasks of adolescence,
such as establishing independence and autonomy,
forming identity, affiliating with peers, achieving legal
permission to engage in adult activities such as driving,
voting, drinking and smoking, and navigating exposure
to intoxicating and addictive substances.
• manage chronic disease in a manner that is appropriate
to the individual, remembering that most strive to be
‘normal’, and encourage self-management
Professionalism
The GP will demonstrate the ability to:
• describe the role of the doctor in assessing, advising and
mediating adolescent risk-taking behaviour with the help
of the interdisciplinary team
• have a strategy for dealing with suspicion or evidence
of violence or abuse
• understand the legal parameters for adolescents for
privacy, informed consent, sexual activity, alcohol and
drug use, driving and reporting of abuse
• reflect on conflicts between their own values and beliefs
and those of adolescent patients, and differentiate
between professionalism and parentalism.
• consider the confidentiality issues that may arise when
using chaperones or interpreters, or having others
present during the consultation
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Curriculum for General Practice