Helping general practitioners to keep up with the literature: evaluation of an RCGP initiative

The recent Report of The Medical Information Review Panel suggested that locally-produced abstracting bulletins are likely to be of great value in promoting continuing education; most notably by helping GPs to 'keep up with the literature'. The Report identified Current Medical Abstracts for Practitioners ( CMAP ), a publication produced by the S.E. Scotland Faculty of the Royal College of General Practitioners ( RCGP ), as an example of the kind of bulletin it had in mind. It further suggested that the role and effectiveness of this publication should be investigated. A survey of the readership of CMAP was therefore carried out. It was found that CMAP is regularly read by only 28% of those to whom it is sent (free of charge). More particularly, CMAP is read predominantly by those GPs who are already conscientious users of medical literature: they use the bulletin as a complement and supplement to their other professional reading. Those GPs who devote little time to journal reading, in general, tend to ignore CMAP . They do not seek to use it as a substitute for more extensive reading of medical journals. It therefore appears that CMAP does little to overcome the problem of GPs who do not keep up with the literature, and it is unlikely that similar publications will be initiated in other areas. Indeed, publication of CMAP may be ceased, at least in its present form.