GPs and eye skills. A brave new world?

To evaluate the efficacy of a brief general practitioner eye upskilling intervention to enhance GP eye skills and increase their use in clinical practice.

Seventeen GPs from a Brisbane Division of General Practice were recruited to participate in a 7 hour clinical upskilling intervention, delivered over an 8 week period.

The proportion of GPs able to accurately recognise glaucomatous fundal damage on clinical assessments rose from 24.0 to 54.2% (standard error [SE] 3.96). The proportion able to accurately recognise diabetic fundal disease on clinical assessment rose from 30.8 to 54.1% (SE 9.2). The ability to recognise fundal disease on slide presentations rose on average from 27.1 to 67.5% (SE 10.8). Although none of the practitioners were able to perform oculokinetic perimetry at the beginning of the intervention, all were able to accurately perform it at the conclusion of the intervention.

GPs are capable of rapidly upskilling in important areas of ocular assessment involving preventable blindness.