Competency Education of Primary Care Physicians in Management of Thyroid Disorders: Implementation Experiences from a Pan India Certificate Course.

Worldwide, thyroid disorders are among the commonest endocrine disorders. In India, about 42 million people reportedly suffer from thyroid disorders such as hypothyroidism, hyperthyroidism, Hashimoto’s thyroiditis, and thyroid cancer (1). The prevalence rates of hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism are 3.9% and 1.3%, respectively. The prevalence rate of subclinical hypothyroidism is reported as 9.4% (1). The data indicate that there is a high burden of thyroid disorders in India, which is unaddressed at the population level. The present medical education system is inadequate to form the competency of physicians in the management of chronic conditions (2). With this in mind, the Public Health Foundation of India, Delhi (PHFI), following the public–private partnership model, has launched the Certificate Course in Management of Thyroid Disorders (CCMTD) for primary care physicians (PCPs) in collaboration with the Chellaram Diabetes Institute (CDI) and with an educational grant support from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) Pharmaceuticals Ltd., covering the majority of the project cost, partially recovered from course fees (Fig. 1) (3). This course is unique in that it is probably the only national-level thyroid disease training program to be undertaken in the country. The partnership model was launched with the primary objective of enhancing the knowledge and skills of PCPs in the management of thyroid disorders. Two iterations of the program have already been completed, and the third round started in August 2016.