Imperial College London Primary Care

Congratulations to Dr Sonia Saxena and Dr Josip Car. Both were nominated in Pulse’s annual poll of Top 50 GPs. The poll seeks to name those GPs who are considered to be amongst the most influential GPs in the profession, the NHS and Government policy.

The number of children admitted to hospital in England for acute throat infections increased by 76 per cent between 1999 and 2010, according to new research published by Elizabeth Koshy and colleagues in the journal  Archives of Disease in Childhood . The article was covered by a number of media outlets, including the BBC . Acute throat infection (ATI), which includes acute tonsillitis and acute pharyngitis, is one of the most common reasons for consulting a GP. The majority of ATIs are self-limiting and can be managed at home or by the GP, but a small proportion may require hospital admission. This study investigated admission rates for children up to age 17 with ATI alongside trends in tonsillectomy rates, between 1999 and 2010.  The study was motivated by concerns that the decline in tonsillectomy rates in recent years has led to an increase in hospital admissions for tonsillitis of increased severity. It also investigated whether performing fewer tonsillectomies is as...

Enquiries from prospective PhD students are welcome in any of the  areas of research  carried out in the  Department of Primary Care and Public Health  at Imperial College London. The department is part of the  School of Public Health . We have a highly active and wide-ranging research programmes in public health and primary care. This includes collaborative work with UK and international organisations. Current and past PhD students have undertaken studies on a wide range of projects, including prescribing policy in Thailand; health care equity; deaths from drug overdose; the impact of pay for performance schemes on quality of care; ethnic and socio-economic differences in the management of diabetes and its complications; screening for diabetes and other chronic diseases; the use of new technology to improve health care; the epidemiology and management of diabetes in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council; medical ethics; and the epidemiology of c...

The Medical Education Specialist Interest Group ( MESIG ) is a support group and discussion forum for anyone involved in teaching, curriculum development or education research across the medical faculty at Imperial College. MESIG meets once a month to hear from expert speakers, share experiences and offer support and advice for your educational projects. The group meets in an informal atmosphere where participants can discuss the latest thinking in education, ask for advice on ethics approval or funding for their research project, or listen to expert speakers.