MAFP/icFRACGP Part 1 key terms

A framework holding that health and illness arise from interacting biological, psychological, and social factors, so assessment and management consider the whole person and their context rather than disease alone.

An approach that explores the patient's agenda, illness experience, and preferences, then shares decisions and management plans in partnership with them while preserving the clinician's responsibility for safe care.

A collaborative process in which clinician and patient discuss options, benefits, harms, and the patient's values, then agree on a plan together. It is central where evidence is equivocal or preferences matter.

A person's capacity to obtain, understand, and use health information to make decisions. Low health literacy is common and requires plain language, teach-back, and checking understanding.

A communication technique where the patient explains the plan or information back in their own words, allowing the clinician to confirm understanding and correct misunderstandings without shaming the patient.

A directive, person-centred counselling style that helps patients explore and resolve ambivalence about behaviour change by eliciting their own reasons, using open questions, affirmation, reflection, and summarising.

A model describing readiness to change as precontemplation, contemplation, preparation, action, maintenance, and sometimes relapse. Interventions are matched to the person's current stage rather than assumed readiness.

A structured approach to disclosing serious information: setting up the interview, assessing perception, obtaining invitation, giving knowledge clearly, addressing emotions with empathy, and summarising strategy and follow-up.

Naming and acknowledging the patient's emotion so they feel understood, for example reflecting that a diagnosis sounds frightening, before moving to information or problem-solving. It strengthens the therapeutic alliance.

A framework describing consultation structure and skills across initiating the session, gathering information, physical examination, explanation and planning, and closing, with a parallel thread of building the relationship throughout.

The cognitive process of gathering and interpreting data, generating and testing diagnostic hypotheses, weighing probabilities, and deciding on investigation or management despite uncertainty.

The estimated likelihood that a condition is present before a test is done, based on prevalence and clinical findings. It determines how much a test result shifts the diagnosis.

A measure of how much a test result changes the odds of disease. A positive likelihood ratio above about ten and a negative ratio below about 0.1 usually meaningfully alter probability.

Sensitivity is the proportion of people with disease who test positive; specificity is the proportion without disease who test negative. Both are properties of the test, not of the individual patient.

The probability that a person with a positive test truly has the disease. It depends on disease prevalence, so a good test in a low-prevalence population yields many false positives.

The number of patients who must receive an intervention for one additional person to benefit over a defined period; the reciprocal of the absolute risk reduction. It conveys practical treatment impact.

The arithmetic difference in event rates between control and treatment groups. Unlike relative risk reduction, it reflects the actual size of benefit and underpins number needed to treat.

Clinical features suggesting serious underlying disease, such as malignancy, infection, or fracture, that warrant urgent investigation or referral rather than routine management. Their absence supports a benign diagnosis.

Agreeing with the patient what to do if symptoms worsen or fail to resolve, including specific warning signs, timeframes, and how to recontact the practice. It manages diagnostic uncertainty explicitly.

Systems and behaviours that reduce missed, delayed, or wrong diagnoses, including adequate history, appropriate examination, follow-up of test results, and clear communication of uncertainty and safety-netting advice.

The conditions of birth, growth, living, working, and ageing that shape health, including income, education, housing, employment, and social connection. They explain much of the inequality in health outcomes.

Differences in health status between groups that are avoidable, unfair, and unjust, arising from unequal distribution of power, money, and resources rather than from biological variation alone.

Conditions justifying a screening program: an important health problem, accepted treatment, a detectable early stage, a suitable test, and evidence that earlier detection improves outcomes at acceptable cost and harm.

Primary prevention stops disease before it starts, secondary prevention detects and treats early disease, and tertiary prevention limits disability and complications in established disease. Each targets a different stage.

A condition that legislation requires clinicians to report to public health authorities, enabling surveillance, contact tracing, and outbreak control. Requirements and lists vary by jurisdiction.

The ongoing systematic collection, analysis, and dissemination of health data used to detect outbreaks, monitor trends, and plan services. Clinicians contribute through notifications and coded data.

A legal and ethical obligation to act in the patient's best interests and avoid foreseeable harm, providing care to the standard of a reasonably competent practitioner in the same circumstances.

A civil wrong established when a clinician owes a duty of care, breaches the standard of reasonable care, and that breach causes harm that is not too remote. All elements must be proven.

The limits that protect the therapeutic relationship, keeping it focused on the patient's needs rather than the clinician's. Boundary crossings should be recognised, declared, and managed, especially in small communities.

Valid permission for an intervention given voluntarily by a person with capacity after receiving adequate information about the nature, benefits, risks, and alternatives, including the option of no treatment.

The ability to understand, retain, weigh, and communicate a decision about a specific matter at a specific time. It is presumed unless shown otherwise and may fluctuate or be decision-specific.

A statutory duty to report certain matters, such as suspected child abuse or a medically unfit driver, to the relevant authority, overriding usual confidentiality. Triggers differ between jurisdictions.

The ethical and legal duty to protect patient information from unauthorised disclosure, subject to defined exceptions such as consent, legal compulsion, or serious risk to others.

Legislation governing collection, use, storage, and disclosure of personal health information, including patient access rights and correction. Practices must have a privacy policy and secure record systems.

The legal process of completing a death certificate stating the cause and manner of death. Unnatural, unexpected, or unexplained deaths require referral to a coroner rather than routine certification.

Tests offered in pregnancy to estimate risk of chromosomal or structural conditions, such as first-trimester combined screening or non-invasive prenatal testing, always accompanied by counselling about options and limitations.

A pregnancy disorder after 20 weeks with new hypertension and proteinuria or maternal organ dysfunction. It requires urgent assessment, monitoring, and delivery planning to prevent maternal and fetal harm.

Excessive bleeding after birth, commonly defined as more than 500 mL after vaginal delivery or 1000 mL after caesarean. It is an obstetric emergency requiring resuscitation and uterine assessment.

The ongoing, opportunistic process of monitoring a child's development during routine care, eliciting parental concerns and checking milestones, with formal assessment if concerns arise.

Use of a validated, standardised tool at set ages to identify children at risk of developmental delay, allowing early referral. It complements rather than replaces ongoing surveillance.

The nationally recommended timing of childhood immunisations and the rules for completing missed doses. Catch-up should proceed without restarting the schedule, using minimum intervals.

A structured assessment of appearance, behaviour, speech, mood and affect, thought form and content, perception, cognition, insight, and risk, used to describe current psychiatric status and inform management.

A structured inquiry into suicidal ideation, intent, plan, means, previous attempts, and protective factors, leading to an explicit risk formulation, safety plan, and appropriate follow-up or escalation.

A documented plan, often enabling subsidised psychological care, recording diagnosis, goals, treatment, and review arrangements. It coordinates care between general practice and other providers.

The concurrent use of multiple medicines, often five or more, which raises risks of interactions, adverse effects, and falls. Regular structured medication review is needed, especially in older people.

The systematic process of identifying and withdrawing medicines whose harms now outweigh benefits, such as preventive drugs near end of life, with monitoring for withdrawal effects or symptom recurrence.

A multidimensional evaluation of an older person's medical, functional, psychological, and social needs, producing a coordinated management plan. It improves outcomes when linked to sustained follow-up.

A state of reduced physiological reserve and increased vulnerability to stressors, often identified by unintentional weight loss, exhaustion, weakness, slow walking, and low activity.

An ongoing discussion recording a person's values, goals, and preferences for future care, including substitute decision-maker appointment, used to guide treatment when the person can no longer decide.