Greetings! You’ve come to the right place to learn more about our local GP Trainers Workshop, an essential component of our Training Scheme. At the core, our workshop is a dynamic network of GP educators, but to us, it’s much more than that – it’s family. We thrive on supporting one another, providing mentorship, and tackling challenges together to foster continuous growth and improvement. If you’re new to our community, we’re excited to bring you into our circle. We take great pride in our collective achievement of creating a space where collaboration and personal development occur organically.
Train
Learn
Grow
TOgether
The GP Trainers Workshop meets six times a year. All current and prospective GP trainers are welcome to attend. These workshops are designed to enhance the teaching skills, assessment methods, and overall effectiveness of GP trainers in their role as educators within primary care. Key components of a GP Trainers Workshop include:
- Teaching Techniques: Strategies for effective teaching in a clinical setting, including one-on-one teaching, group sessions, and practical demonstrations.
- Assessment and Feedback: Methods for assessing trainee progress, providing constructive feedback, and facilitating self-reflection and improvement among trainees.
- Curriculum Development: Guidance on developing a comprehensive training curriculum that covers essential knowledge and skills for GP trainees, tailored to meet their educational needs.
- Mentorship Skills: Techniques for building strong mentor-mentee relationships, including how to support a trainee’s professional development and wellbeing.
- Regulatory and Administrative Aspects: Information on the regulatory framework governing GP training, accreditation processes for trainers and training practices, and other administrative responsibilities.
Our workshops often involve interactive sessions, case studies, peer discussions, and sometimes role-playing exercises to simulate teaching and learning scenarios. They are essential for maintaining high standards in GP training practices and for ensuring that trainers are well-equipped to guide the next generation of general practitioners.
The GP Trainers Workshop meets in person every two months, with the venue changing among training practices equipped for hosting. Whenever feasible, these gatherings are also offered as hybrid sessions, providing remote access for trainers who can’t attend physically. Furthermore, we hold our annual Trainers Residential Event at Cumberland Lodge in Windsor Great Park, typically in the third week of November. Summaries of previous meetings are available for download in the Educator Forum area of this site (password required).
Workshop meetings see strong attendance from members, thanks to the wide range of topics covered and frequent updates on developments in the training scheme. To keep up with the local challenges, as well as wider changes within NHSE, trainers are required to attend at least half of the workshop meetings each year. This year’s meeting schedule is attached here.
The Workshop’s administrative tasks are overseen by a Workshop Convenor, who is voted into this role and contributes their time and effort voluntarily. For new trainers enrolled in NHSE’s educational supervision courses, you’ll receive the Convenor’s contact details from your course leaders, enabling you to initiate contact. It’s recommended that you have been active in a Trainers Workshop for a minimum of six months before applying for formal educator approval. Should you prefer, you can also directly approach the Training Program Directors (TPDs) or request an introduction from an existing group member. We are keen to provide you with early access to our Trainers Forum and its wealth of resources, even before you are officially approved as a GP trainer. Our aim is to continuously expand our network of training practices and GP trainers locally, and we warmly invite your questions and the opportunity to discuss how you can become part of our growing community.
If you’re interested in learning more about becoming a GP Trainer, we warmly invite you to download and explore the slide deck below. Should you have any further questions or need more insights, please feel free to reach out to our friendly GP Trainers Workshop Co-convenors, Nicholas Grundy and Nadeem Ahmed.