TY - JOUR T1 - General practitioners for the next millennium: suggestions for medical curriculum reform JF - British Journal of General Practice JO - Br J Gen Pract SP - 640 LP - 641 VL - 54 IS - 505 AU - Abul Siddiky Y1 - 2004/08/01 UR - http://bjgp.org/content/54/505/640.abstract N2 - At present communication skills teaching is undertaken largely by GPs, the belief being that their greater patient contact and long-term follow-up best allows them to do so. However, experience only covers so much. We can all recall a consultant during our undergraduate clinical years who was far from perfect as a mentor — where teaching them the skills to teach may have made a tremendous difference.A suggestion to tackle this explores the proposal for integrating another relevant subject with the MBChB or respective Royal College qualification. As already discussed, undergraduate teaching in management or even integrating a management qualification can provide food for thought — the same idea can applied to teaching.The casual acceptance that students who become qualified doctors are also capable of teaching their peers is one that must be addressed as it is evident that this is not always the case. Compare this with school teachers, who have to complete a year of teaching before being employable, many doing so after studying ‘education’ as their primary degree. It is now easy to understand why this may be seen as an example of arrogance in the medical profession.Being taught the confidence, organisation and skills to teach while at medical school could make a considerable difference to the education of future medical students. Concerning general practice, the gradual shift in emphasis towards patients in the community and the increasing student numbers, means an estimated 1000 further practices will need to be recruited to accommodate … ER -