The Primary Care Education Research Group (PCERG) is concerned with how primary care and general practice knowledge is practised and learnt. Our work examines workplace-based and university-based learning and the relationships between how healthcare and training is organised and delivered. This impacts both upon the direct learning experience of students and faculty, and longer-term sustainability, retention and capacity building.
We have an active undergraduate and postgraduate capacity building programme, showcasing and developing the scholarly evidence base of primary care and community education. This includes scholarly teaching and examination of MBBS undergraduate students; iBSc student-led research; School of Primary Care Research student intern projects; postgraduate trainee support; and a range of doctoral (PhD and EdD) supervision. We work closely across the fields of education and research to maximise collaboration between scientists, methodologists, cross-disciplinary academics and clinical educators.
The group has strong collaborative links with the Higher Education Academy (HEA), Association for the Study of Medical Education (ASME), Society of Academic Primary Care (SAPC) and Institute of Education. The PCERG is a member of the NIHR School of Primary Care Research (SPCR) medical education working group. Within UCL, the group has cross-disciplinary links with the Research Department of Medical Education (RDME), ARENA and Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT).
We host an annual GP tutor conference to celebrate, showcase and develop the scholarly nature of general practice.
Engagement
We engage with patients and members of the public to guide our teaching and research.
Experts by Experience
We host an experts by experience group about primary care and community teaching. This group inputs into teaching strategy and review of teaching content and process. It includes discussion about how future learning can be shaped by patient and public priorities; support co-teaching with patient and public partners; as well as identifying a range of opportunities for educational research to support this.
The Primary Care Educational Research Group aims:
- To share ideas and innovations related to primary care and community education through seminars, publications and conferences
- To encourage and facilitate the conducting of high-quality research in areas related to primary care and community organisation and learning
- To seek means of implementing research findings related to primary care and community healthcare organisation and education
- To maintain liaison with other organisations with similar interests in clinical education or educational research
- To support the scholarly practise of teaching in the primary care and community setting, alongside training and education of educational researchers within PCPH.
