Innovation in GP training

Imperial GP Specialty Training (GPST) is an innovative scheme led by the Academic Health Sciences Centre (AHSC) comprising Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust and Imperial College London, working with GPs in Hammersmith and Fulham and surrounding areas.

The training scheme offers a three year programme, whereby 18 months is spent undertaking hospital posts, and 18 months will be working in the community and general practice.

This is a scheme run by a global leader in healthcare, healthcare education and research. As such, we offer a broad range of learning opportunities both in specialist areas and primary care:

Hospital rotations
These hospital posts have been designed with the specific focus on the educational needs of general practice trainees, to enable the transfer of knowledge and skills that are relevant to the field of general practice.

Over years 1 and 2, trainees will rotate through three six month placements of hospital specialities within our Trust, selected from:

  • Medicine: for example participating in the management of long term conditions in both acute and primary and community settings
  • Psychiatry: for example working with psychiatric emergencies, management of elderly and paediatric mental health, exposure to different psychological therapies
  • Paediatrics and Public Health: for example integrating training in a hospital setting with ambulatory care, on call and community paediatrics
  • Obstetrics and gynaecology: for example running family planning and sexual health clinics, attending appropriate gynaecological outpatient clinics, on call duties for emergencies

Primary care placement
In the second year of the scheme, trainees will spend an additional six month placement in alternative primary care and community settings such as:

  • GP led urgent care centres
  • Sexual health clinics
  • Multi-disciplinary community mental health teams
  • Paediatric ambulatory care unit

Primary care rotation
In year 3 trainees will be placed within a GP training practice and will focus on developing consultation skills, managing a range of primary care medical problems and completing the Clinical Skills Assessment and Work Based Programme component of the nMRCGP.

Throughout the training
Throughout the academic terms, our GP trainees will meet for half a day on a weekly basis as part of the educational release programme. Run by programme directors, Dr Martin Block and Dr Samia Hasan, sessions will:

  • Prepare trainees for the vocation of general practice
  • Reflect the RCGP Curriculum for GP Training
  • Deliver a broad and exciting educational experience  covering a broad range of topics both clinical and non clinical, including public health, health inequalities, preventative care, cross cultural medicines and patient self management
  • Provide training in teaching, healthcare policy, commissioning and management/leadership
  • Enable trainees to influence the content of the programme
  • Drawing on talents from within the College, the Trust and beyond eg:  Imperial College Business School, The Kings Fund, International Speakers

This training scheme provides GP trainees the opportunity to benefit from the Trust’s approach to developing experience as an educator, a clinical leader, commissioner, researcher and team player by taking advantage of innovative programmes implemented alongside the GP specialty training. This includes learning about teaching and research in collaboration with the Department of Primary Care and Public Health at Imperial College London, as well as opportunities to enrich their knowledge of healthcare management at the Imperial College School of Business and with local GP consortia. There will also be an opportunity to interact with College trainees in surgery, medicine and psychiatry; gaining from the richness of multiple perspectives.

This is a genuinely innovative programme and it provides an exciting opportunity to become part of a new generation of GPs who will be educated, trained and motivated to the highest standards as leaders and practitioners in a first-class and modern health service that builds on the best of traditional general practice.