PRHO rotations incorporating general practice
Clare Williams, Peter Cantillon, and Mac Cochrane point out aspects for undergraduates to consider
- By: Clare Williams, Peter Cantillon, Mac Cochrane
The Medical Acts of 1978 and 1983 introduced new opportunities for the preregistration year, which made it possible for part of the year to be spent in various specialist areas. In 1997 a document published by the General Medical Council (GMC), The New Doctor, stated that, provided the minimum requirements of four months in medicine and four months in surgery are met, the remaining four months can be spent in a post in any other specialty approved for general clinical training.1
Although most rotations still follow the traditional route of six months spent each in medicine and surgery, several factors have recently combined specifically to reopen the debate about the value of incorporating general practice into the experience gathered by preregistration house officers on rotations. These factors include changes in under graduate medical education, explicit descriptions of the attributes expected of doctors, and the increasing importance of primary care.2
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