BEACH 1.0

BEACH (Bettering the Evaluation and Care of Health) was a long-term study that collected data on general practice activity in Australia. The Family Medicine Research Centre at the University of Sydney initiated the BEACH program in 1998, and it ran until 2016.

Key Features of the BEACH Study:

  1. Purpose:
    • The primary aim of BEACH was to gather reliable and representative information on the types of health problems managed by general practitioners (GPs) in Australia, the treatments they provided, and the services they used.
  2. Data Collection:
    • The program collected data from a random sample of GPs across the country.
    • Each participating GP recorded information about 100 consecutive patient encounters, including demographic details, reasons for the visit, diagnoses, management plans, prescribed medications, and referrals.
  3. Scope and Impact:
    • Over its duration, BEACH collected data on millions of patient encounters.
    • This data was instrumental in identifying trends in general practice, informing health policy, and improving healthcare services.
    • It covered a wide range of health issues, such as chronic diseases, mental health, preventive care, and the use of medications.
  4. End of the Study:
    • The BEACH program concluded in 2016 due to funding challenges.
    • Despite its closure, the data collected remains valuable for researchers, policymakers, and healthcare professionals interested in understanding patterns in general practice and improving primary healthcare delivery in Australia.

BEACH and GP Exam Knowlege

The examiners at RACGP and ACRRM are all GPs, and the questions they ask reflect routine General Practice. The problem you have is that your personal routine general practice is not fully reflective of the full scope of General Practice, or the GP exams. Like many medical documents, BEACH is long but can be distilled into the key data below to help you focus your studies more efficiently and avoid significant gaps.

This was my first attempt at a summary analysis. Ever-more-detailed analyses are found at BEACH 2.0, BEACH 3.0, and BEACH 4.0. The Not BEACH list was generated with the assistance of Chat GPT 4o.

Presentations by patient reason

  • 13.5% Prescription – all
  • 12.3% Check-up – all
  • 10.2% Test results
  • 6.2% Cough
  • 5.0% Immunisation/vaccination – all
  • 3.8% Administrative procedure – all
  • 3.1% Back complaint
  • 2.7% Rash
  • 2.7% Throat complaint
  • 2.2% Blood test – all
  • 2.2% Fever
  • 2.0% Depression
  • 1.9% Abdominal pain
  • 1.7% Upper respiratory tract infection
  • 1.7% Headache
  • 1.6% Skin symptom/complaint, other
  • 1.5% Sneezing/nasal congestion
  • 1.5% Hypertension/high blood pressure
  • 1.5% Anxiety
  • 1.4% Other referrals
  • 1.4% Weakness/tiredness
  • 1.4% Knee symptom/complaint
  • 1.4% Observation/health education/advice/diet – all
  • 1.2% Ear pain/earache
  • 1.2% Diabetes – all
  • 1.2% Shoulder symptom/complaint
  • 1.1% Foot/toe complaint
  • 1.1% Diarrhoea
  • 1.1% Sleep disturbance
  • 1.1% Swelling (skin)
  • 1.0% Vertigo/dizziness
  • 0.9% Follow-up encounter
  • 0.8% Leg/thigh complaint
  • 0.8% Vomiting
  • 0.7% Other reasons for encounter
  • 0.7% Chest pain

Presentations by system

  • 40.4% General & unspecified
  • 17.1% Respiratory
  • 14.5% Skin
  • 14.1% Musculoskeletal
  • 8.2% Digestive
  • 8.1% Psychological
  • 7.9% Circulatory
  • 5.7% Endocrine & metabolic
  • 4.3% Neurological
  • 4.2% Female genital system
  • 3.2% Ear
  • 2.9% Pregnancy & family planning
  • 2.4% Urology
  • 1.9% Eye
  • 1.4% Blood & Blood Forming Organs
  • 1.2% Male genital system
  • 1.0% Social

BEACH 2006-2016

You don’t need to read this, but here is the original source of the data presented above.

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