All registrars on the scheme, whether in hospital or GP posts, meet every Wednesday afternoon for a protected teaching session.

Friendships develop quickly and the programme allows an extremely effective self-directed learning approach.

The half-day sessions cover a very broad field, from debate on 'hot topical media issues' to registrar-presented topics, from practice visits (we also went to Lyons bakery which went down very well indeed, especially the cakes!! ) to self defence courses and specialist input for those almost universal knowledge gaps (why does Dermatology crop up so much?). The registrars themselves largely direct the input and content of the Wednesday sessions and they offer great continuity as you move from one post to the next. For those in hospital posts they maintain a link with General Practice training (and sanity). Many spend time together outside the formal teaching sessions to discuss problems and offload stresses.

A career in Medicine is not simple and peer group support can be immensely reassuring. There is no better forum for this than the case analysis sessions on the half-day release. On several occasions a difficult case has been brought up for discussion by a new registrar at their 'wits-end', only to find that similar cases have caused immense difficulties to other registrars as well.

How does the saying go . . . a problem shared is a problem halved . . . ? General Practice is abundant with challenges and problem solving, so we view morale-building as vital.

All-in-all, the Wednesday sessions are an extremely important stabilising factor for registrars who, lets face it, have a lot of adjusting to do when changing jobs every six months.

Exams and Courses