Introduction

We have been a training practice since 1992.  We enjoy and are committed to teaching and see the benefits it brings to patients, the practice and the profession.  We are proud of our successful training record and 3 of our current doctors actually started here as trainees.

We are part of the Banbury GP Vocational Training Scheme within the Oxford Deanery.

The whole practice participates in GP Training and we also teach a variety of other health professionals; so far including community nurses, health visitor and midwifery students, student counsellor and a pharmacist.  We also have Oxford medical students on short term attachments each autumn.

GP'S in Training

Doctors who train with us are fully qualified and have selected general practice as their career speciality.  They have completed at least 2 years in hospital posts and some have prior GP experience too.

Postgraduate medical training has recently been modernised so that more doctors have the opportunity to learn in general practice, whatever their final career aspirations.  This means we now have the opportunity to expand our teaching role, to include recently qualified doctors who wish to learn more about primary care.  They join us for 4-6 months and have a greater level of supervision than our 1 year registrars (for simplicity we refer to them all as registrars).

GP Registrars in Practice

What do registrars do?

Registrars Will:-

Sit and observe consultations

Conduct joint consultations with their supervising GP

Consult on their own, always with a backup GP

Occasionally video record their consultations for personal teaching purposes

You may be told you are seeing a GP registrar when you make your appointment and the doctor will also introduce themselves as a GP registrar when they greet you.  You will always be asked if you are happy for a registrar or student to sit in on your consultation but if you are uncomfortable with this please decline.

As a training practice we will always seek your written permission if the registrar is videoing his/her consultations.  Physical examinations will be off camera and you can ask for the camera to be switched off at any time during the consultation.  The videos are only viewed by the GP registrars and their supervising GP's and are an invaluable tool for teaching consultation skills.

How does This Benefit Patients?

As a training practice we have to demonstrate and maintain the highest standards of healthcare for our patients, as well as providing an excellent learning environment for GP registrars.  We are rigorously externally assessed every 3 years for excellence in organisational, clinical and educational performance.

Registrars also increase the number of available appointments, bring fresh ideas and enthusiasm and share the most up to date hospital practice with us.

We feel privileged to be involved in training the doctors of the future and hopefully encouraging them to aspire to be excellent GP's as defined by the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP).

Links

Hightown Surgery Training Information

Oxford Deanery

For any further information please contact Dr Louise Cornwall  (trainer) or Mrs Jeanie Glasspool the Practice Manager. 

Research

The practice has traditionally been involved with primary care research.  In particular Dr Lehman's work on heart failure and Dr Hin's on coeliac disease and on vitamin B12 deficiency.  As a patient we will always inform you if your care is in anyway linked to research and we will always ask for your written consent if any of your information is used for research purposes.  As a practice we are justifiably proud of the achievements so far in this area.