SCALES Course Graduation 2009

• Course Tutor: Dr Maria F Wilson
• Course Administrator: Ms Yvette Dalton

The SCALES course has been in operation for the past number of years. It is a course that is primarily aimed at doctors who have been out of general practice for a period of time and who are thinking of re-entering it and wish to update their knowledge. It also attracts doctors who have never been in general practice and who are considering a future in general practice. Interestingly a third group have emerged. These are doctors who are involved in public health. This group wish to update their medical knowledge as they feel quite distant from some clinical scenarios. As a result, there is a wide range of expertise and opinions expressed in the group.

During the summer 2009, we interviewed prospective participants by phone having received their needs assessments. The sole purpose of the telephone interviews is that participants know exactly what the course does and does not cover. The course runs as follows:

• There is a limit of 20 participants.
• A needs assessment is sent to each interested person and followed up by phone interview.
• It is run over 8 full days, all bar one of these are held in the ICGP. Lunch is provided and a lot of discussion spills over into this time.
• The course tutor runs half of each of the full days and guest speakers, largely chosen from expertise within general practice, cover the second part of the day.
• Most of the course material is given to participants either before or on the day the course begins. Participants are encouraged to read in advance as all the sessions are interactive.
• The curriculum has a core basis to it. However we always leave free sessions to accommodate specific interests or needs of the group.
• We have several past participants who come back and run a session on the course, these have included Dr Shunil Roy, suturing techniques and Dr Elizabeth Healy, child protection issues a practical approach. Other guest lecturers include Dr Geraldine Holland, Dr Deirdre Lundy, Dr Susan Smith, Dr David Buckley, Dr Darragh O' Doherty, Dr Zita O'Reilly, Nurse Thelma Smith, Dr Dom Colbert, Dr Keith Perdue and Mr Rolande Anderson.

We started earlier in September and finished on 14th December 2009 with the graduation and a festive lunch.

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