A COALITION OF GPs and educators have called for urgent action to fund and develop undergraduate placements for doctors to help address the crisis facing the service.

They are highlighting two reports, including recent research which indicates that there is a significant difference in the number of graduates from Irish medical schools and their EU counterparts applying for a career in general practice – ranging from 25-55%.

The call has been made by the the Irish College of General Practitioners and Association of University Departments of General Practice in Ireland.

They are making a number of recommendations in a bid to promote general practice as a career choice, and propose a more formal and structured collaboration between the ICGP Specialist Training Programme and the Medical Schools Departments of General Practice to achieve this. 

• Read more here on how to support a major Noteworthy project to examine why it is difficult for many to get access to a local GP.

An annual meeting today of the AUDGPI coincides with the publication of a report detailing the steps the body says are needed to bolster the workforce.

Dr Maureen Kelly, lead author and associate professor at the School of Medicine in University of Galway, said it is much needed and that it GP education should be viewed as a continuous process.

“We need to develop and implement a national funding model that supports the hosting and delivery of undergraduate general practice placements for medical students in all medical schools,” Dr Kelly said.

“The report is a forward-thinking and ambitious approach to GP education.”

“Against the background of a growing GP workforce crisis, this report highlights the low visibility of General Practice at undergraduate level in the country’s Medical Schools, makes recommendations to promote General Practice as a positive career choice, and proposes a clinical academic training pathway in General Practice,” the Irish College of General Practitioners (ICGPs) said.

The new report, entitled “Medical Student to General Practitioner- an Urgent Call to Action”, includes actions such as expanding the number of GP intern places by 50 to 200 and establishing ‘GP Hubs’ affiliated with each medical school department across the country.

It also advises “encouraging all GP trainees” to be involved in the education of medical students.

“The ICGP knows that not enough graduates of Irish medical schools select general practice as a career, which leaves our long-term workforce planning in a highly vulnerable position,” Fintan Foy, chief executive of the ICGP, said.

“This joint report with the AUDGPI sets out 14 recommendations to change that.”