A new booklet and CD Rom to support GP
trainers in implementing the first-ever GP training curriculum has
been produced by the Royal College of General Practitioners
(RCGP).
To mark the curriculum’s launch in August
2007, almost 5,000 trainers around the country have received a copy
of Being a General Practitioner, the curriculum’s core
statement that sets out the professional competencies necessary for
UK general practice in today’s NHS.
The booklet is accompanied by a CD Rom, which
includes the 14 other curriculum statements and A Guide for
Trainers and Learners to help trainers and trainees to
navigate their way around the document.
An historic milestone in GP education, the
curriculum has been given unconditional approval by the
Postgraduate Medical Education and Training Board (PMETB) and will
benefit patients, trainees, GP educators and the NHS as it means
that every GP Speciality Registrar will receive the same quality
standard of training regardless of where in the UK they are
based.
The curriculum will transform the three-year
period of postgraduate medical education known as Speciality
Training for General Practice, which runs from the end of the
Foundation Programme to the award of a Certificate of Completion of
Training (CCT).
As the curriculum is a dynamic document that
will change and develop over time, it will not be published fully
in print format, but will instead be available on the dedicated
curriculum website http://www.rcgp-curriculum.org.uk/,
which provides advice on all aspects of GP training and the
curriculum.
Other resources for trainers include the
e-portfolio – an online learning and assessment tool which will act
as a platform for trainers and trainees to manage various elements
of assessment - and the GP Educator Curriculum Support Group, which
has been formed by the College and the Committee of General
Practice Education Directors (COGPED). This will allow deaneries
and GP educators to share ideas and information about the
curriculum and use the curriculum website as a resource bank with
FAQs and ideas for workshops.
Dr Bill Reith, Chair of the RCGP Postgraduate
Training Committee, says: “Being a General Practitioner
describes the professional competences necessary for UK general
practice and sets the context for all the other statements. It is
essential reading for all GP trainers.
“It is widely acknowledged that the GP
curriculum is one of the most complex of all the specialties, and
that it will be a considerable challenge to deliver. We want to
ensure that we provide trainers and trainees with the tools to meet
this challenge.”
Ends
For more information please contact Lorna Fletcher in the RCGP
press office 020 7344 3136 / press@rcgp.org.uk
Notes to editors
- The Royal College of General Practitioners is the largest
membership organisation in the United Kingdom solely for GPs. It
aims to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general
medical practice and to act as the “voice” of GPs on issues
concerned with education; training; research; and clinical
standards. Founded in 1952, the RCGP has over 27,000 members who
are committed to improving patient care, developing their own
skills and promoting general practice as a discipline.