Forthcoming EGPRN meetings
The 72nd meeting of the European General Practice Research Network will take place in Nice, France from 19–22 May 2011. The theme of the conference will be: ‘Relevant Outcome Measures in General Practice Research into Chronic Diseases’.
The next meeting will be in Krakow, Poland, from 13–16 October 2011. The theme will be: ‘Infectious Diseases in Primary Care; managing the interface between the person and the community’. Keynote speakers include: Prof. Samuel Coenen, Prof. Adam Windak, and Prof. Waleria Hryniewicz. Three pre-conference workshops are planned for Thursday 13 October: ‘How to ask a focussed research question’, ‘Infectious Diseases’ and ‘Dealing with Medical Errors’. The deadline to send in abstracts for the Krakow meeting is 30 June 2011. Please go to http://www.egprn.org for more details.
EGPRN activities at Wonca Europe: Warsaw, Poland, 8–11 September 2011
EGPRN has been invited to present several workshops and seminars at the Wonca Europe 2011 conference in Warsaw. The topics include: the TRANSFoRm project, researching patient safety in primary care using electronic patient records (http://www.transform project.eu); an international comparison investigating the origins of medical students’ attitudes towards family practice and the motivation behind this career choice; and an overview of EGPRN's role in capacity development supporting the research agenda by the development of research courses and networking.
Overview of currently funded EGPRN research projects
The EGPRN research strategy has been to promote research in general practice in various ways. Projects of good methodology, with interesting topics and executed by researchers involved in EGPRN can apply for funding from EGPRN. Currently, three projects have been granted funds.
‘Gut feelings’ in general practice in Europe
This project is researching the diagnostic process under uncertainty and uncertain diagnoses where gut-feelings seem to play an inevitable and important role. Some previous research on this topic has been done among EGPRN members by an e-mail survey and by qualitative research in the Netherlands and Germany. Based on these results, a need for more European research into the validity of ‘gut feelings’ and its usefulness in educational programmes emerged. The aims of the study are validation of the definition of ‘gut feelings’ and ‘sense of alarm’ for different European countries, establishing its major determinants, and development of the gut feeling research agenda. It is an international study with four participating European countries. The study consists of several work-packages and will use qualitative methodology.
The Manpower project
The background of this project is the fact that more and more European countries are faced with a shortage of GPs now or soon and fewer medical students are selecting family practice as a career. Many specific factors stimulating the choice for general practice are known. Many studies have been performed on the drawbacks for the career choice in family medicine, but this study is aiming to formulate a positive model, which explains the reasons why people stay in the profession. It aims to develop concepts and practical arrangements for a good work-life balance in GP and to identify predictors of a high level of professional satisfaction and persistence. The project includes several partners within EGPRN membership countries.
A systematic review of the psychometric and edumetric properties of assessment tools for communication and consultation in medicine for undergraduates and postgraduates
The importance of effective communication has been widely recognized by professional bodies and has been shown to increase diagnostic accuracy and improve patient outcomes such as patient satisfaction, enablement, and compliance. Several models of consultation exist with substantial overlap between them. Medical training of communication skills is an important part of every curriculum and several assessment tools have been developed in various countries. New assessment criteria not only focus on the validity of the tasks, but also on the validity or fairness of the judgment, and the generalisability of the assessment, allowing comparison with others or demonstrating progress in a person's own skills. The aim of this study is to critically review the reliability and validity of current instruments used world-wide, and to assess communication skills in the medical consultation. This would enhance understanding of the differences between instruments and enable them to be used more appropriately in the increasing variety of circumstances where assessment of communication is called for.