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- Page navigation anchor for Child health training: Why does the College not act?Child health training: Why does the College not act?I am writing in response to the letter which appeared in your July edition on specialty-based training in paediatrics.While, it is not within the College's gift to remove approval from training programmes, we do share the concerns expressed by Dr Sharvill in his letter. The College is aware that general practice training is not long enough and that it is difficult to fit all of the necessary training experiences and placements into a three-year envelope. We have been campaigning on this issue since 2012, and made the educational case that GP training should be extended to four years, to enable more time to be spent on important specialty areas such as child and mental health.The time spent in general practice within the three years of training has been extended from 12 to 18 months, which provides trainees with a greater opportunity to experience a full range of different clinical specialisms within the general practice context. We also regularly review our curriculum to ensure that it covers the skills and knowledge required in all clinical and professional areas, including child health. We have enhanced child health in the MRCGP assessments, including the introduction of child health cases in the Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA) exam and in workplace-based assessments.In addition, we have published a joint position statement with the RCPCH entitled 'Learning together...Show MoreCompeting Interests: None declared.