Applied Knowledge Test (AKT)
The current advice is that the AKT should be sat in the ST2 year. This ensure you should have familiarised yourself within a GP practice in ST1 or ST2 and leaves your ST3 year clear for the CSA and preparing for independent clinical practice. The following links provide useful information about AKT.
Other useful resources:
Clinical Skills Assessment (CSA)
Examination preparation tips:
- Do a surgery with 10 minute appointments once a week for practice.
- Allocate patients with specific problems to this clinic. Your trainer can identify specific cases or you can book people yourself, eg if someone says “by the way, can I talk about my knee?” you can book them in a 10 minute surgery to practice doing it in the time.
- Make sure your normal surgeries are at least at 15 minutes. This allows time for preparation and typing up that you won’t have to do in the CSA, and therefore helps you to get through things in a relevant timescale.
- Practice doing some joint surgeries with your trainer watching. This is uncomfortable but will get you used to being observed and marked by a third party.
- Ask to sit in for part of a surgery with doctors other than your trainer … may be just two or three consultations at a time. Note the skills they use and the strengths and weaknesses of their approach. Adapt skills you think are useful to your own practice.
Suggestions for joint surgeries:
- Book these as GP registrar surgeries so patients are expecting to see you not the trainer.
- GP registrar sees the patients and the trainer watches.
- GP registrar and trainer alternate patients with time for discussion and feedback.
- GP registrar sees the first half of the surgery with the “Registrar’s Revenge” being the second half where you watch your trainer and give feedback. Practice watching your trainer using a consultation map or COT scheme to focus your attention and help you to identify and emulate the skills you see being enacted by the trainer.
Minor Surgery Course
Two day intensive course provides participants with practical skills training and a sound theoretical knowledge.
Run by the RCGP North West.
Psychiatry for Primary Care
The University of Manchester, Sackville Street campus.
We will be launching a new course in 2012 which will combine online lectures with a choice of interactive workshops at a Manchester venue.
More information will be available in January 2012. If you would like any further information please contact the course director
The course is aimed at GP registrars who have not had the opportunity to do Psychiatry during their training schemes.