Designing and delivering an epilepsy course for GPs to help meet their educational needs

Area of Science:

• Primary Care Medicine
• Medical Education

Background:

• Epilepsy management is increasingly important in primary care due to new guidelines and contracts.
• Current GP services for epilepsy show deficiencies in structured reviews and patient information.
• Enhanced GP education in epilepsy management is essential.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify GPs' learning needs and preferred teaching methods for epilepsy.
• To design and implement an effective epilepsy teaching program for GPs.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional study involving 50 GPs in the Lothian region, Scotland.
• Questionnaires were used to gather data on learning preferences and needs.
• A bespoke epilepsy teaching day was developed based on the questionnaire results and delivered.

Main Results:

• GPs favored weekday, half-day teaching sessions.
• Multidisciplinary lectures and case studies were preferred teaching formats.
• Key topics identified as most important included drug treatment, referral guidelines, and diagnosis.

Conclusions:

• A concise epilepsy management course, designed around GP preferences, can be successfully delivered.
• The developed teaching program received positive feedback, highlighting its effectiveness and acceptance.