Study finds new GPs have limited psoriasis training

There is no cure for psoriasis, and new research suggests many early career GPs have limited experience with the disease.

Many registrars and newly qualified GPs see few cases of psoriasis during their training, potentially making future treatment and management of psoriasis challenging. An Australian study assessed how often specialist GP vocational trainees – or registrars – provide clinical management of psoriasis.

The study by Nawaz and colleagues analysed data from more than 1,700 registrars and over 240,000 consultations. They found that only 0.22 percent of registrar consultations involved a psoriasis diagnosis or issue.

This means GP registrars manage about 10 psoriasis consultations during their core general practice training.

A follow-up appointment was organised for about one third of psoriasis diagnoses, suggesting low continuity of care.

Along with a lack of undergraduate and hospital experience of the disease, this low frequency of psoriasis management suggests there may be unmet learning needs relating to the condition, the researchers wrote.

JoAnn See is a dermatologist and the co-chair of All About Acne. She said: “We think that this could be the case with acne management as well.”

“Trainees will see few acne cases throughout their training which means long-term management of these patients will be difficult.

Acne is such a common condition that GPs see in day-to-day practice, so it would be good for registrars to have a firm understanding of the disease before they go out into practice.”

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