BACKGROUND Previous research indicates that older patients may be less willing to consult general practice registrars (GPRs), reducing training opportunities in chronic/complex care. This survey explores older patients' attitudes in order to inform models of interaction that would be acceptable to patients. METHODS Ten training general practices distributed questionnaires for self completion ...

Did you know that accident and emergency (A&E) registrars have as many as five three month secondments to other specialties during their training? These secondments involve the specialist registrar (SpR) joining a specialty related to A&E in a supernumerary capacity. The aim of the secondments is for the trainee to learn how related specialties manage their acute problems. This article outlines...

Respiratory SpRs are interested in medical education but rarely observed when teaching and receive little feedback http://ow.ly/Our0m.

Assessing the performance of doctors while they are engaged in clinical work is a challenging concept. The introduction of objective-based curricula provides the stimulus and opportunity for the Royal Colleges of Physicians to develop relevant and reliable methods of in-service assessment. We propose to pilot a study investigating the validity, reliability and feasibility of three assessment me...

There are many reasons why such practices continue in a country with limited health care resources. These include inadequate knowledge about palliative care, as well as a lack of reflection on ethical concepts of futility and the need to balance the benefits and burdens of a suggested course of treatment. Another problem is that of poor communication between doctors and patients. Most training ...

324 © Royal College of Physicians 2014. All rights reserved. Fig 1. (a) and (b) A crush injury a number of months following insertion of a right ventricular pacemaker lead. The lead is transected (arrow). (c) Venogram showing the basilic (BV), cephalic (CV), axillary (AxV) and subclavian (SV) veins. (d) Ultrasound taken at the level shown by the arrow showing the axillary artery (AxA) and vein....