The GP Compass

The General Practice Playbook

The Australian Guide to Starting Up for Success

Foreword by Professor Michael Kidd AM

Associate Professor Bernard Shiu
BS, MD, FRACGP, GAICD · Clinical Director, Banksia Medical Centre
Victoria GP of the Year 2020  ·  National GP of the Year 2023
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$39.95 Paperback $49.95

Ships July 2026  ·  Free delivery Australia-wide

Pre-Order Paperback Ebook $14.95 (was $19.95)

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The General Practice Playbook book cover
About the Book

The book every GP practice owner wishes had existed

General practice ownership is one of the most rewarding — and most demanding — decisions a doctor can make. Most GPs enter it underprepared, learning through costly mistakes that a better guide could have prevented.

The General Practice Playbook is the comprehensive, Australian-specific guide to GP practice ownership that has never existed until now. Built on fifteen years of building Banksia Medical Centre from a single clinic in Newcomb to four sites and five clinics across the Geelong region, it covers the complete journey from the personal decision through to financial management, team building, compliance, innovation, and scaling.

It is also honest about the hardest question: whether you should start at all. Not every GP should own a practice. This book will help you decide — and if the answer is yes, it will show you how to do it well.

What's inside

  • The Owner Mindset — before you commit to anything
  • Business planning, financing, and billing strategy
  • Location, fitout, and sustainable infrastructure
  • Building and managing your team — hiring, culture, and the People Matrix
  • MBS billing, PIP, and Medicare compliance
  • Financial intelligence — from EBITDA to cash flow calendars
  • Legal and ethical obligations under Australian law
  • Growth, innovation, and scaling to additional sites
  • AI and technology in the future of general practice
  • 17 appendices — templates, checklists, and consent forms
Who Is This Book For

Written for GPs at every stage of the ownership journey

🩺

GP Registrars

Thinking about practice ownership after Fellowship? This book gives you the complete picture — including the honest assessment of whether now is the right time for you.

🏥

New Practice Owners

In your first three years of ownership and navigating the complexity of running a business while delivering clinical care? This is your reference guide.

📈

Established Owners

Running a successful practice and thinking about growth, a second site, or what the next decade looks like? The chapters on scaling, AI, and succession planning are written for you.

The Author
Assoc. Prof. Bernard Shiu
BS, MD, FRACGP, GAICD
Clinical Director, Banksia Medical Centre
Geelong, Victoria
  • 🏆 Victoria GP of the Year 2020
  • 🏆 Victoria General Practice of the Year 2023
  • 🏆 Australia National GP of the Year 2023
  • Associate Professor, Deakin University
  • Board Director, WestVic PHN
  • Former Board Director, Australian GP Alliance
  • RACGP Examiner & Question Bank Writer

Associate Professor Bernard Shiu has spent fifteen years building Banksia Medical Centre from a single clinic in Newcomb to four sites and five clinics across the Geelong region — including the Geelong Long COVID Clinic, one of the first dedicated Long COVID services in regional Australia.

He is an RACGP Examiner and question bank writer of over ten years, an Associate Professor at Deakin University, a Senior Clinical Lecturer at Notre Dame, Chair of AMA Geelong, and a Board Director of WestVic PHN and a former Board Director of the Australian GP Alliance.

The General Practice Playbook is the book he wished had existed when he started. It is written from fifteen years of real experience — the decisions made well, the mistakes made once, and the frameworks built from both.

Foreword
Professor Michael Kidd AM

Former President, World Organisation of Family Doctors
Immediate Past Deputy Chief Medical Officer of Australia
Professor of General Practice, Flinders University

Australia needs more GP practice owners who understand both the clinical and business dimensions of what they are building. This book gives them the foundations to do it well.
Launching at RACGP Practice Owners Conference — Sydney, May 2026

Available July 2026
Pre-order at conference price

Pre-orders ship July 2026. Secure your copy now at the conference discount price.

Paperback
$39.95
Full price $49.95
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Ebook — epub & PDF
$14.95
Full price $19.95
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Paperback + Ebook Bundle
$49.95
Full price $59.95
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Secure payment via Stripe  ·  Australian orders only  ·  Published by Banksia Medical Press (ISBN 978-1-7646768-0-9)