What resources are available for continuing professional development for GPs involved in specialty training?

General practitioners (GPs) involved in specialty training have access to a range of continuing professional development (CPD) resources provided by royal colleges, professional associations, and training organisations. These bodies ensure that GPs have easy and prompt access to both pre-registration and post-registration theoretical and practical training relevant to their specialty areas, including contraception and chronic disease prevention. Training programmes are designed to maintain and update skills and competencies, with evidence required to demonstrate ongoing professional development. Accredited training courses, refresher sessions, and peer review processes are commonly available to support skill maintenance and knowledge updates. Additionally, CPD resources often include culturally sensitive health promotion, behaviour-change techniques, and communication skills tailored to diverse patient populations. Managers and training organisations are responsible for facilitating access to these CPD opportunities and ensuring that training content meets nationally defined criteria and competencies for practice.

Key resources include:

• Royal colleges and professional associations offering accredited CPD programmes and specialty training modules ¹.
• Training organisations providing theoretical and practical training in specific clinical areas such as contraception, diabetes prevention, and trauma care ¹,²,⁴.
• Structured refresher courses and peer review mechanisms to encourage sharing of good practice and skill updates ².
• Training that incorporates cultural competence, communication skills, and behaviour-change strategies relevant to patient needs ³.