You don't have to figure this out alone
Everything here is free or included in your college membership. Nobody will think less of you for reaching out — and you don't need to be in crisis to use any of it.
📞 If you need to talk to someone now
Colleague, or someone independent?
A really common hesitation: you want to talk to someone, and a colleague is right there — but is a colleague actually the right person for this, versus someone outside it? There's no single right answer, but here's what tends to make the difference.
💬 A colleague can be exactly right when…
- You want context, not just an ear — they know the practice, the patients, the culture.
- It's more "is this normal?" than "I need this off my chest."
- You trust them specifically, and you're comfortable if it changes how they see you day-to-day.
- It's practical (a case, a decision, a workflow thing) rather than personal.
🔒 Someone independent can be better when…
- You'll still be working alongside them tomorrow, and that changes what you're willing to say.
- It involves the workplace itself, a supervisor, or a colleague — hard to be candid with someone inside it.
- You're not ready for this to be known professionally, even informally.
- You want someone with no stake in the outcome and no memory of it next time you're rostered together.
💡 Both are legitimate — reaching out to a colleague is one of the most common first steps registrars actually take, not a lesser option. But if any of the independent-column reasons resonate, that's exactly what Drs4Drs (1300 374 377) and the RACGP GP Support Program are built for: free, confidential, and completely outside your training relationships. You don't have to justify the choice either way.
Things experienced GPs wish someone had told them