e-GP is a critical success

e-GP, elearning for General Practice, has been recommended as a key resource for teaching and learning critical appraisal skills in an independent review of critical appraisal resources to be published in Education for Primary Care.

The review, which found e-GP to be ‘a modern, attractive resource that covers the core areas of critical appraisal’, was commissioned by the MRCGP blueprinting group. The authors of the review state that critical appraisal, as an essential part of the GP curriculum, should receive adequate coverage in training and assessment and be taught in a way that demonstrates its relevance to everyday general practice

e-GP has been developed by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) in partnership with elfh. It is suitable for doctors in specialty training for general practice, general practitioners and other primary care professionals. Explicitly linked to the RCGP curriculum, e-GP offers a comprehensive programme of elearning sessions covering a broad range of primary care topics.

The Evidence-Based Practice module helps learners develop the knowledge and skills to find the best evidence available to support clinical and managerial decisions. Seven engaging elearning sessions examine evidence-based practice in detail, from working with the patient as a partner, to critically appraising a randomised control trial in a therapeutic intervention, diagnostic studies and a systematic review. Each session takes around 30 minutes to complete to fit in with busy work-study schedules, provides links to sources of information and features case studies and interactive exercises.

Dr Ben Riley, Project Clinical Lead for e-GP said, ‘Today’s general practitioner is expected to apply the results of a large volume of research evidence within the doctor-patient partnership and meet the high expectations of the both public and the profession. Within our Evidence-Based Practice module we break each aspect down into manageable chunks of learning and provide simple tools to support GPs with incorporating critical appraisal into their daily practice.’

For further information and to try out a sample session from the Evidence-Based Practice module visit https://www.e-lfh.org.uk/programmes/general-practitioners.