Kevin Galbraith
DPhil title
What real-world competences are required for Evidence-Based General Practice?
Research Abstract
Although the Evidence-Based Health Care (EBHC) movement has successfully raised our expectations in terms of the strength of evidence underpinning medical care, it has faced considerable challenges in modern general practice: GPs face extreme time pressure, a rapid turnover of directives, and a burgeoning stockpile of clinical guidelines, which often fail to address the real problems of real patients. Furthermore, GPs work in a world of complexity and uncertainty that is not often addressed by the pared-down simplicity of the randomised controlled trial, so favoured by the EBHC movement. Some GPs feel the concept of EBHC misunderstands, and even threatens their traditional role. This thesis aims to construct a new 'real-world' EBHC competence model that is relevant and achievable in modern general practice, and a practically useful educational resource that GPs can incorporate into their annual performance appraisal.
Supervisors:
Dr Alison Ward