I have just been informed of an upcoming meeting tailored especially towards GP trainees being held in London. It is being organised by BAMM, British Assoc of Medical Managers who also have trainee wing called BAMMBino




More to follow!!!

Going by last week's surgery, I think the swine flu cases are going to go up exponentially every day.

A few things have changed re: treatement- infant dose, choice for pregnant women, prescription form,etc.
I think the college has been doing a good job of keepinf us abreast of the changes.



Here is the link

Just when you thought the ePortfolio could take the backstage(after finishing training) , it has reared it's head in the disguise of revalidation and annual appraisal. I personally have nothing against the eportfolio. Infact, it has guided my learning over the past 2 years and after using it for 2 years, I feel I have a hang of it. After initial scepticism, most of us have gotten used to it and use it on an average of twice a week. It has not always been an enjoyable experience. Filling all boxes didactically has been boring at the best of times. Many times, I have learnt something, tried to enter it on my eportfoilo but have felt that I do not need to enter all the boxes. Unfortunately, they have to be filled in order to show "reflective learning". I am sorry but not all my learnings are reflective. Most are but some are straight forward old fashioned reading an article, learning something and hoping to recollect it when faced with the situation the next time.

What did you learn, what will you do differently in the future, what further learning needs did you identify, How and when will you address these? Sometimes this takes away the joy of learning and makes the ePortfolio a laborious task. I am sure there are many trainees who will agree with me on these.

Now with Revalidation around the corner, we will have a new ePortofolio in the next 12 months and we will be back to using the logs. Guess we have an advantage over our seniors in that we have already been initiated.

Going by the RCGP guide to revalidation for GPs ( version 1.0, April 2009), the first year (2009-2010) should not be a lot different from the present annual appraisals. Second year onwards, there needs to be clear evidence of having collected 50 accredited points.


Going through my eportfolio, I find that I have earned 50 credits in 5 months...so rejoice trainees, we are a step ahead of our peers!

gp registrar learning resourcesrevalidation

After watching the episode of The Apprentice featuring the Bee3Pod and reading an article last week in the BMJ lamenting the lack of enthusiasm shown by NHS trusts to embrace the Cycle to Work scheme, a thought came to my mind..what if I went to work on a cycle? I live in Bedford and travel everyday to work (Wellingborough) by car. I spend a good 45 minutes on the road each way. This equates to 3.8 tonnes of carbon emission per year. About 3-4 days a week, I also undertake home visits. If I chose to cycle to my local train station, took a train to work ( 12 minutes) and then cycled to my surgery, the benefits would be:

1. My emission would be 0.4 tonnes ( and that includes taking my car for home visits) , less if I could do the home visits on a cycle
2. My health would improve
3. I can do a bit of reading on the train
4. I do not have to worry about the stress of traffic

Ofcourse, the British weather is a spanner in the works. I do not see myself cycling when it is wet. Even if I did this for 3 months in a year, it would be good.

The one big question at the back of my mind is the home visits. Is it possilble to do these on a cycle? With the help of the Bee3Pod, I could fit in my doctor's bag on the cycle and Wellingborough is definitely cycleable. Most visits are within a mile of the surgery. Time should be manageable. Are there any doctors that do this? I know many of my hospital colleagues do this. GPs? I am not sure. It would be good to hear from any that do!!!

An interesting article I came across whilst googling for any information was this article in the BMJ more than 30 yrs ago! This Associaition does not seem to exist anymore.

gp registrar learning resourceshome visits

I attended the "Life after GP Speciality Training" day arranged by the East Midlands and Trent deanery for ST2 and ST3s. It was a useful day with sessions on locuming, salaried contract, role of LMC, CV preparation, partnership applications and interviews, finances, etc. Needless to say, it was very appropriate. There were about 50 trainees and the day was divided in workshops.

The interesting thing was that only one trainee had a job in hand two months from finishing training.

To summarize,
1. Most of us will be either locums or salaried GPs or unemployed at the end of our training ( even though we have passed the nMRCGP...the exam that no previous GP in the country had to take to prove their competence and be employable).
2. We will continue to have access to our ePortfolios ( not sure if we would be able to make entries....does anyone actually want to?)
3. Revalidation is coming and we would need to carry on collecting evidence, thus giving us a head start compared to our non nMRCGP colleagues ( which is all the GPs in UK)
4. Point 3 takes us back to point 2 : we would not be able to port data from eportfolio to the annual Appraisal website.
5. Partnerships are rare but apparantly the "pendulum" will swing in our favour in the coming years. There will be a need / demand for partners.
6. Portfolio GPs are on the rise and there are some decent avenues ( academic, etc)

All in all, a good day. I would advise trainees to attend the next one.

gp registrar learning resourceslife after training

Soon we will be able to apply to PMETB for certification online. Supposedly this should be better then the paper application as the application will only go through if all the paperwork is on order. The fee too can be paid online. It was meant to be online today but it isn't. I called them up and was told that it is still being tested and should be live in a few weeks. Well, I am going to give it a week more. If it is still not live, I will send my application by post. Can't afford not to be employed come August 2009 !

gp registrar learning resourcespmetb

Unbelievable.....I was quite surprised to note this. I guess it was on the cards, but this has come without any imminent warning. In 2007, the banding was cut from 60% to 50% and now it is down to 45%. It will affect all those starting out in GP jobs from this month. Even if you were paid higher banding last year, if you are now in a hospital post then when you get back, you will have a pay cut!!

Did we need this? PMETB has increased their fee. Ok, it is only £25 increase but £805 is a big fee, especially in the current financial climate. Are doctors immune from the economic crises? Not really ! Thanks to the Darzi recommendations, practices are not taking on new partners if they can help. How many trainees will get partnerships? Not many. How many will get desired salaried posts? A few. How many will locum? Most of us.

Anyway, I deviate. The issue is the pay cut for GP Registrars. This is in line with the hospital doctors' pay cut. Is that really happening? I do not know any SHO whose pay is being cut. Wonder if it is because GP registrars are a small minority, working largely in isolation except for the weekly meetings

A COGPED survey done last year caught my eye today. I suspect things are not this bleak . The response rate for this survey was only 40%. Majority of newly qualified GPs did not respond and hence its statistical significance is questionable. The article is cited here as well !

Came across this website by a Welsh GP who reviews comics with medical themes. I have read a few of these comics and I think his reviews are pretty spot on. Check it out here !

This might sound pretty dull and not essential, but IMHO this should be pretty useful. I am still trying to come to terms with organisations like LMC, SHA, PCT, PBC, etc...and these will influence a lot of what we do once we are out on our own. I am going to the Kettering one.

Letter from RCGP.....I am posting a link. Basically, we need to enter one day's work outlining out experience of the curriculum. I do not think it is compulsory, but sounds interesting. Read More...

Letter from our AiT rep looking for a deputy. Anybody interested? Read More...

Enough has already been said about the Government's plans to make GPs work extra hours. What is amazing is that GPs have no say in it whatsoever. I feel the trainees should also take part in this poll..after all we are the GPs of tomorrow.

These are the poll questions and here is the webcast from BMA