Membership
The College has approximately 4,600
Fellows, Members and Associates who are based in Scotland. Fellows
and Members that are currently involved with the College are
referred to as members "In Good Standing", which means that they
have both passed the exam and have remained paid up members of the
College.
Being active members of the College means
that general practitioners support the aims of the College and
contribute to the development of general practice as a discipline.
In turn, the College is always looking for ways in which to give
members tangible benefits as well as a range of other benefits as
part of their return on an annual subscription.
Benefits of Membership
1. Access to the web site -
Members' Only Area
The College in Scotland (like the
College at UK level) is using the web as a means of linking
effectively with members. This medium will give us opportunity to
seek your views on new issues, check your thoughts on latest
developments, ask you whether you would be interested in
representing the College at subject specific meetings or indeed be
one of a panel prepared to give comment on a wide range of issues,
ideas and developments.
RCGP national members area
2. A local
office responding to developments in your area
All
members are affiliated with one of our regional (faculty) offices.
From here, staff work with a committee of members, like you, to
identify opportunities for educational and social interaction,
provide peer group meetings as required, respond to initiatives in
your postgraduate area and gather ideas and thoughts on what your
area thinks about UK and Scottish wide developments. These regional
faculty offices are always looking for ways to provide you with a
core level of service as well as responding to your ideas. Members
get a discount on many of the activities where there is a small
charge levied, but much of the activity is free to members.
Scottish Faculties
3.
Opportunity to become involved
The
College is an ideal medium for its members to become involved in
areas of general practice that interest them. Got an idea or a
passion? Then contact us to look at the opportunities to pursue
this at UK, Scottish or local level. We can also put you in touch
with others with a common interest. In the first instance please
contact Hew Edgar Executive and
Policy Administrator on
0131 260 6800 who will be pleased to deal directly with your
enquiry.
4. Help with continuing
professional development
The College is both a
provider of educational opportunity and at the forefront of
developing initiatives that support members in becoming better at
what they do. Activities include:
- Educational courses
- nPEP
- Accredited Professional Development
- Revalidation
In addition, we have a number of other
initiatives currently being developed at UK,
Scottish and faculty level.
Professional
Development
5. Supporting the driving
forward of quality in practice
The College is extremely active in the field of improving
your ability to provide the best patient care possible at UK,
Scottish and faculty level. Through the College you can choose to
contribute to this process or look forward to benefiting from the
range of activities being undertaken on your behalf. These include:
• Standards of care at practice level • Quality initiatives for you
or your practice • Bringing guidelines closer to you in the
consultation process
Quality
Practice
6. Working with the
Parliament and others in NHS Scotland
Devolution has brought decision making
closer to the Scottish people but the College can bring it even
closer to you. We work on behalf of our members with the
Scottish Parliament, NHS Scotland, the Scottish Executive, and
other key decision makers. Through the College, and the News and
Views section of this site, members can easily access the
opportunity to influence government.
7. Linking with ideas and
initiatives
Professional isolation can affect many
of us even when working in big practices. Do you value new ideas,
want to share your thoughts, link with like-minded people, test
ideas or just want to be aware of what else is going on? The chance
is yours to contribute to, or just to watch, the world round about
you. Either way, it is nice to know what is going on. The College
can help of course with initiatives like:
British Journal of General
Practice
8. Telling it like it
is
It is frustrating to know there is a problem in general
practice and not know what to do about it. Well, the College can
offer members the chance to raise issues either with the College
itself, in partnership with other organisations (terms and
conditions being the speciality of SGPC) or in linking with
decision makers and contributing to developments. There is no doubt
the College works hard on behalf of its members (after all, it is
members who run it), but the more people who contribute to forming
ideas and opinions the more representative a body like the College
can become. There is no point complaining that the College doesn't
help you - you (the members) are the College - so do something
about it! This must be one of the most valuable aspects of
membership of an organisation like the College.
If you
would like to find out more or raise an idea/issue, please
contact Laura Kelleher RCGP Scotland
Manager by calling 0131 260 6800.