This year’s RCP annual conference opened with a session from Professor Chris Whitty, in which he discussed the relative roles of the state, the medical profession and the individual in improving public health.
Professor Whitty’s speech was followed by a conversation between RCP president Dr Andrew Goddard and secretary of state for health and social care Sajid Javid MP.
Later, as part of the RCP’s Let's talk about series, Student and Foundation Doctor Network (SFDN) representative Dr Brian Wang spoke to RCP vice president for education and training Professor Áine Burns about mentorship, widening participation within the healthcare setting and Dr Wang’s In2MedSchool initiative. In2MedSchool has been set up to encourage medical students and doctors to support future doctors from disadvantaged backgrounds. Brian also has a keen interest in academia and wants to encourage medical students and doctors to pursue teaching and research opportunities.
Another Let’s talk about session focused on mental health, in which RCP president Dr Andrew Goddard interviewed Dr Alex George, a physician, bestselling author and youth mental health ambassador to the government. Dr George shared his reflections on working in an emergency department during the COVID-19 pandemic, and he and Dr Goddard discussed the increasing recognition for the need for more support for doctors’ wellbeing, and Dr George’s ongoing campaigning work for more mental health support for both physicians and their patients.
After lunch, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners Professor Martin Marshall and RCP registrar Professor Cathryn Edwards hosted a session on tackling health inequalities, drawing on experiences from general practice. The session featured talks from three GPs, followed by a lively Q&A session. Dr Carey Lunan shared insights into the Scottish Deep End project, which works in 100 general practices serving the most socio-economically deprived populations in Scotland, and how these practices have responded to the challenges posed by COVID-19. This was followed by a talk by Dr Frances Baawuah, who explained the work done by her team’s mobile health bus, which offers health checks, information and advice to Camden residents. The final speaker, Dr Maisun Elftise, described her experiences undertaking the GP Trailblazer Programme, which supports newly qualified GPs to work in practices in areas of socio-economic deprivation.
To see all these sessions and much more, sign up to Medicine 2022, and enjoy access to all sessions on demand until 30 September 2022. You will have until 29 April 2022 to gain the maximum 16 CPD credits and download your certificates. For the remaining days, you can self-accredit as independent learning.