RCGP announces changes to the Specialty Training
Curriculum
25/11/11
The Royal College of General Practitioners
(RCGP) has announced changes to the GP training curriculum to make
it more user-friendly and easier to navigate.
The changes will apply to trainees
beginning their training programme in August 2012 and are part of
the College’s ongoing response to feedback gathered from
trainees, trainers and the wider training community.
Largely presentational, the majority of changes
are structural and linguistic to make the curriculum easier to
understand. Individual curriculum statements are more focused
and more clearly linked to the core curriculum statement Being a
GP.
Revisions beyond the normal annual update are minimal and
learning outcomes will not change significantly, though they make
be expressed differently to make their meaning clearer or to bring
them up-to-date with latest thinking and learning.
A new user guide and glossary has also been posted on the RCGP
website at
http://www.rcgp-curriculum.org.uk/curriculum_documents/future_changes.aspx
- The main differences are:
The curriculum has been arranged into three parts: The Core
Curriculum (Being a GP); four contextual statements (exploring the
core statement in the context of general practice) and 21 clinical
examples of how to work with the Core Curriculum.
- The current 10 statements labelled 2 to
4.1 have been reorganised into the four contextual statements,
which are now: The GP consultation in practice, Patient
safety and quality of care, The GP in the wider professional
environment and Enhancing professional knowledge. This allows the
NHS Leadership Framework and the importance of sustainability in
general practice to be integrated
Statement 4.2 (Information management and technology) has been
integrated into all of the new contextual statements.
- Language has been changed from the passive
to the active tense to better engage the reader.
The use of educational terminology has been simplified and
clarified.
Case studies and questions for reflection have been added to the
statements
Better cross-referencing and linking to the core
statement.
The curriculum is the first of its kind for general practice in
the UK and was introduced in August 2007. It defines the
learning outcomes for the specialty of general practice and
describes the competences required to practise medicine as a
general practitioner in the UK NHS. Primarily aimed at the start of
independent work as a general practitioner, it must also prepare
the doctor for a professional life of development and change.
The College has been reviewing the usage and impact of the
Curriculum, both formally and informally, since its introduction.
In addition to the direct feedback received, the College
commissioned the University of Birmingham to conduct a three year
evaluation of the curriculum and its impact on training.
Please contact the RCGP Press Office for a copy of the report.
Dr Charlotte Tulinius, RCGP Medical Director of
Curriculum, said: “It’s really important to have ongoing feedback
so that the Curriculum remains contemporaneous, fit for purpose,
relevant to the trainee and relevant to patients.
“The response so far has been very positive and most people
acknowledge that it is important to have a curriculum so that the
skills, knowledge, attributes and behaviour required by a GP are
clearly defined.
“However, some trainers and trainees have told us that it could
be more user friendly and that its structure and how it should be
used could be more clear. We hope that the revised version
addresses this and that all users will find it beneficial.”
Ends
FURTHER INFORMATION
RCGP Press office – 020 3188 7576/7575/7574
Out of hours: 0203 188 7659
press@rcgp.org.uk
NOTES TO EDITORS
Link to News release: Training for GPs
should be extended - RCGP reports on first three years of GP
curriculum
The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more
than 44,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We
work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general
medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education,
training, research and clinical standards.