Pathways to being an academic GP in Ireland

Careers in academic general practice are challenging, with the need to balance an array of responsibilities, including clinical duties, academic work, mentorship, securing funding, etc. In Ireland, the barriers to pursuing a GP clinical academic career include a historical lack of ‘research culture’, a dearth of research infrastructure, limited training opportunities, and a necessary focus on clinical service delivery.¹ The wider discipline is also affected by this perception, with only 3% of medical students in the UK describing general practice as being intellectually challenging and GPs comprising a disproportionately small number (6.5%) of clinical academics in the UK.^2,3 The Wass report recommended that this perceived lack of academic challenge should be tackled by raising the profile of academic general practice.⁴

To promote academic career pathways in general practice in Ireland, we have begun a series of actions to challenge perceptions, raise the profile of academic general practice, improve access to scholarly activities, create supervision and mentorship opportunities, and better define the current career pathway. In conjunction with the Association of University Departments of General Practice in Ireland (AUDGPI), we have developed an infographic to map the current training opportunities from undergraduate through to substantive positions (https://my.visme.co/view/jwdrjxjv-18r27vppx6yx26qz).

We have refined this with the input of colleagues at the recent WONCA World Rural Health Conference and plan to incorporate the infographic into the Irish College of General Practitioners’ and AUDGPI’s future service and promotional reports. The link will be provided for viewing. We welcome discussion with interested colleagues, the development of future iterations, and local adaptations of this (hopefully) useful career-planning tool.

• © British Journal of General Practice 2022