Menopause care is included in GP curriculum, says College

Ahead of a Channel 4 documentary being broadcast this evening on menopause, the RCGP have issued the following statement.

Dr Anne Connolly, clinical lead for women's health for the Royal College of GPs, said: “Menopause is included in the RCGP curriculum which all GP trainees need to demonstrate competency of in order to practise independently as a GP in the UK. GPs have the broadest curriculum, yet shortest training programme of any medical specialty, which aims to expose trainees to the full breadth of conditions they are likely to see in general practice. Introducing additional mandatory training courses for some areas of medicine and not others would be unworkable.

“GPs also undertake lifelong continuing professional development and have to demonstrate ongoing learning across the curriculum to continue to practise. To this end, the College has worked with partners including the British Menopause Society and Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to develop educational resources for GPs on women's health.

“This includes resources about menopause as part of toolkits on women's health and menstrual wellbeing, e-learning resources and events, and our popular Women’s Health Online Library. We will continue to develop these and more to support GPs and other healthcare professionals deliver the best possible care for women, based on the latest evidence.

“The College is also represented in a Clinical Reference Group, which has been set up to help shape NHS England’s Menopause Pathway Improvement Programme."

Further information

(For media only)

RCGP Press office – 020 3188 7633/7494/7574
Out of hours: 020 3188 7659 
press@rcgp.org.uk

Notes to editor

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of more than 52,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients. We work to encourage and maintain the highest standards of general medical practice and act as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.