Later career and retired GPs can often find that with new available free time they are motivated to continue to: give back, shape the future of general practice, innovate, enhance their skills and share knowledge with colleagues while remaining informed of current issues and developments within healthcare. With your wealth of knowledge and expertise you remain an important voice within the RCGP and the profession.
The opportunities for networking are broad, some possible avenues are outlined below.
Networking
COVID-19
The College are delivering a campaign called #RCGPTogether to share experiences, support one another and network during the COVID-19 crisis. Why not join our campaign by celebrating examples of positivity, including new ways of working, tools to aid mental and physical health, and supporting your community in the midst of really challenging times. An outline of the ways to contribute is provided in the dedicated wellbeing section of the COVID-19 resource hub. This includes vlogs, blogs and on the Twitter handle @TeamGP
RCGP faculty events
Your local faculty will run a variety of events to bring its members together, some of which will be aimed at later career and retired GPs. These range from social occasions to events dedicated to exploring the challenges and opportunities GPs face when making the transition to retirement.
RCGP annual conference
Our annual primary care conference is the must-attend event for GPs.
Paid and voluntary opportunities
Before volunteering you may wish to consider how best to use your talents and to balance your life with the requirements of a charity or organisation.
Working with young people
The RCGP have created a bank of resources to support GPs who are engaging with school pupils and medical students. This includes guidance on attending careers fairs, delivering workshops about the life of a GP and organising larger scale events.
The Social Mobility Foundation delivers the Aspiring Professionals Programme (APP) to support young people to learn about and pursue professions for which they are academically capable but lack the means or networks to successfully attain. The programme includes a specific stream for aspiring medics.
One particular element of the programme is professional mentorship. More information including other opportunities to get involved in their work can be found on their web pages.
The SMF also partner with the RCGP on the Widening Participation Work Experience Programme around the UK.
The Sutton Trust is a foundation which improves social mobility in the UK through evidence-based programmes, research and policy advocacy. From early years’ through school, college and university to the workplace, they work to combat educational inequality and prevent the subsequent waste of talent.