A taught master's course in primary and community care from a department of general practice

Taught masters' courses run by departments of general practice have found it difficult to attract general practitioners especially if full time, mainly due to lack of funding for locums. This article describes a multi-disciplinary master's course in primary and community care developed by the department of general practice in Sheffield. The course has an emphasis on self-directed learning in small groups, to which mature students bring their own work experience. Assessment is by course work and dissertation. This article reports a retrospective evaluation of the first four years of the programme, by analysing the backgrounds of applicants and by asking those who completed the course for their views, both overall and on the different modules. With an increasing number of modular masters' courses becoming available, there is a need for funding to enable general practitioners to participate in such opportunities for career development.