Training for General Practice at Sonning Common Health Centre
Sonning Common is a semi-rural dispensing practice with 8,400 patients. It has been a training practice for over 25 years, one of the first in the Reading area. The current trainers are Drs Sue Ronay, Kim Emerson and Simon Morris who became trainers in 1999, 2001 and 2006 respectively. This allows us to accommodate more than one learner at a time.
We have been note-less since October 1998. Out of hours is now provided by Oxfordshire PCT and the OOH centre is based in Abingdon with a satellite centre in Henley. For out of hours training our registrars have the choice of attending some sessions with Kim Emerson in Henley or using the Reading out of hours service.
The other doctors in the practice Dr Andrew Burnett (previously a trainer for 10 years), Ralph Drury, Ellen Kruidenier and Tess Harris are also actively involved in teaching.
Dr Andrew Burnett and Sue Ronay have experience of being assessors for the old summative assessment. Dr Simon Morris is an assessor for the nMRCGP CSA examination. In addition, one of our district nurses is a district nurse tutor so there are good opportunities for joint teaching.
We are committed to the practice providing a good learning environment with all the primary care team involved in teaching and learning together. The one month induction period allow times to be spent with all members of the multidisciplinary team. The registrars/learners have a half day of protected time each week for a tutorial and individual learning time. There are weekly meetings which contribute to the ongoing education program.
We are linked to the Reading Vocational Training Scheme for General Practice for which the registrar is released for a whole day each week. The training program can be found at www.readingvts.org/home.
The registrar has their own room with a networked PC with full inter- and intranet access. We have facilities for videoing surgeries.
The practice is flexible and allows protected time once a month for education and hospital clinic attendance as agreed with their trainer. The registrar has five weeks annual leave and five days study leave.
If you would like to discuss GP training further, please contact Sue Ronay, Kim Emerson or our current registrar.
Quotes from Previous Registrars
“A very friendly place to work, where you really feel supported and part of the team. The whole practice meets daily for coffee”
“Having 2 registrars is great. We shared our highs, lows and it was useful for exam prep and shared tutorials too”