Changing clinician practice. The RACGP/RACO National GP Eye Skills Workshop

To evaluate the impact of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP)/Royal Australian College of Ophthalmologists National General Practitioner Eye Skills Workshop on Queensland participants reported medium and long term ocular practice pattern.

Two questionnaires were administered to all Queensland workshop participants (n = 121), six months and > 12 months following the workshop, to assess self reported ocular practice pattern.

The response rate was identical for both the first and second questionnaire with 78 (64%) GPs returning completed forms on each occasion. Results indicate a highly significant increase in the proportion of GPs having access to dilating drops in the practice, using a systematic approach to eye assessment, and using the ocular kinetic perimetry (OKP) chart (p < 0.001), performing paediatric vision testing (p = 0.002) and incising chalazion (p = 0.01) following the workshop. General practitioners also reported a significant increase in the use of dilatation and fundoscopy in all clinical areas surveyed (p < 0.001). The change in dilatation and fundoscopy practice found at six months was sustained at > 12 months.

Our study has demonstrated the National GP Eye Skills Workshop to be associated with significant and sustained practice change in key areas of ocular assessment in general practice. A key ingredient in the workshop's success was the focus on experiential learning, intra-session practice rehearsal and use of local opinion leaders.