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LETTERS:
Jean D Gray
Campaign to revitalise academic medicine: A road map needs to be drawn for the 21st century
BMJ 2004; 328: 1377-c-1378-c [Full text]
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[Read Rapid Response] Academy and flexibility to be linked for GPs
Francesco Carelli   (7 June 2004)

Academy and flexibility to be linked for GPs 7 June 2004
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Francesco Carelli,
EURACT Council ,National Representative - RCGP 43017 - GMC 4256757 - EGPRN - Italian College of GP
20123 - Milan - Italy

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Re: Academy and flexibility to be linked for GPs

I find it's great that the BMJ would promote this campaign. At the same time, I think it'd be better to speak about and to work for an academic health care and academic health services.

This is because of the importance for a surviving connection between academic activity and clinical work, and because many NHS doctors have significant teaching and research and managemnt responsibilities, without being exactly academics.

Mainly in General Practice discipline, we have GPs with really increasing service delivery commitments, but, at the same time, we are seeing a great development in GP teaching and research and new Countries are opening or are at least thinking to open finally the acamedic door to General Practice.

Differently fron the New Contract in UK, in Italy the contracts are not looking at flexiblity on work and nothing is devoted to career development and protected time for academic teaching, research and management.

At WONCA European Congress in Amsterdam, on 2nd June 2004, I prepared and managed a symposium, with well known expertises in the field ( Amanda Howe, Christos Lionis, Justin Allen, Igor Svab ) organised to

1) discuss about the practical ways to build a core of teaching, to create academic structures in relation with GPs, University, Regional Councils, Medical Councils, to prepare a paper of local agreement; to choose teachers and tutors, creating a spiral level of quality so to get trust from the Academic Body.

2) Discuss about the practical ways to create a flexible career development, with alternative options as protected time for teaching and academic work, or part-time for particular needs, peer-driven continuing education, training and qualification.

So, the squeezing between some development in academy and the duty to do exactly the same clinical work is persisting, cutting the academic efforts and this is another point to be stressed by the BMJ campaign

Competing interests: None declared