We decided to work on this idea that GP registrars are competent but not confident. How can we help registrars to leave us not as saplings but as young oaks? In Bristol we now have speciality doctors for 18 months in general practice and if recommendation 45 of Sir John Tookes’ Report on Modernising Medical Careers is carried out then we will come into line with Europe. The length of training i...

This is one of a series of occasional articles highlighting conditions that may be more common than many doctors realise or may be missed at first presentation. The series advisers are Anthony Harnden, university lecturer in general practice, Department of Primary Health Care, University of Oxford, and Richard Lehman, general practitioner, Banbury. To suggest a topic for this series, please ema...

This paper argues that general practice is potentially an important social determinant of health and health inequalities. The way it is influential is consistent with models of causal pathways in the way social and societal factors influence health. General practice clinical care can be thought of as a material resource. Evidence exists at many levels that this resource is inequitably distribut...

Doctors who were general practitioners in the period 1973-88 and had written a successful MD or PhD thesis were identified. Of 96 doctorates, 64 were MDs and 32 PhDs. Fourteen doctors had obtained their MD before becoming general practitioners and the remaining 50 after becoming general practitioners. Twenty of the 64 doctors were full time or part time members of a university department of gen...

The 'modern' view of the world is based on the premise that we can discover the essential truth of the world using scientific method. The assumption is made that knowledge so acquired has been 'uncontaminated' by the mind of the investigator. Post-modern theory, however, is concerned with the process of knowing and how our minds are part of the process, i.e. our perceptions of reality and the r...

This article describes some preliminary work done by the National Centre for Classification in Health (NCCH) in response to the recommendations of the General Practice Coding Jury. Terms derived from two Australian general practices, two coordinated care trials and the General Practice Coding Jury were matched to the index of the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related ...