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The RCGP Curriculum Introduction and User Guide
Using the Curriculum: First5, CPD and Lifelong Learning
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First5
First5 is a concept being developed by the RCGP to support new
GPs from completion of training through the first five years of
independent practice. The aim is to empower you as part of the new
generation of generalists and ensure that you are effectively
supported by the College as you develop as an independent
generalist, not only providing excellent care to patients but
shaping the way general practice develops. Some may view a
curriculum as a tool used only during training, no longer needed
after passing the comprehensive examinations of Membership and
receiving a Certificate of Completion of Training (CCT).
However, the opposite is true, the end of training being just the
start of your lifelong journey as an expert generalist.
Through the early years of practice and throughout your
professional lifetime, the curriculum provides a framework for how
to be the best GP you can be through mastering the core areas of
competence and essential features of the curriculum. You will need
to go back to the curriculum periodically to re-evaluate your
practice and remind yourself what being a GP is all about, using
the curriculum to highlight areas of educational need to be
addressed through continuing professional development.
Continuing professional development and lifelong
learning
The GP curriculum provides the foundation for those in training
to gain their certificate for independent practice. It does
this by setting out the generic or 'core competences' in six areas
and defines three areas or 'features' essential for every GP to
have.
As such the curriculum goes beyond what a newly qualified GP can
hope to attain to being a rich description of what it is to
practise as a GP for the rest of your professional
lifetime. Every competent professional grows in clinical and
personal maturity, moving from being a competent GP on completion
of specialty training to being an expert in your work with your
patients – your journey to mastery of the discipline.
Use the curriculum, particularly the core and contextual
statements, as the guide and framework within which to reflect
actively on your practice and to record your development,
particularly in the annual appraisal process.
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