Sunday November 14 is World Diabetes Day. The number of people suffering from diabetes is increasing across the world and diabetes is now recognised as a global epidemic. There are currently about 200 million people worldwide with diabetes and this number may is predicted to increase to around 330 million by 2025. In the Department of Primary Care & Public Health at Imperial College, we have an active research, quality improvement and education programmes in diabetes. In research, we have worked with a number of our local primary care organisations to improve the prevention, early detection and treatment of diabetes. Examples of this work include QOF Plus (Hammersmith & Fulham), Vascular Risk Assessment (Ealing) and CONDUIT (Wandsworth). The department also provides primary care advice to the Diabetes Research Network.
I decided to become a General Practitioner when I realised that a robust primary care system is essential in the development and functioning of any Community. As GPs, we are the first port of call of all illnesses, whether acute or chronic, and we must remain up to date at all times to ensure excellent care. With this in mind, I was determined to not just become a GP, but to explore the different opportunities available to us. This determination led me to have a taste of performing my medical duties in a wide variety of places: traditional GP surgeries, hospitals, prisons, walk-in centres, out of hours services, 111 telephone service, urgent care centres and private practice. These experiences have offered me valuable insight into what makes the fibres of our Community function and why some medical problems are significantly skewed in some ethnicities, social circles or economic groups. But gaining this rewarding knowledge and exposure would somehow be fickle if I were not able to s...
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