New genomics education and training resources from the Royal College of General Practitioners

Dr Jude Hayward and Dr Imran Rafi are Co-Clinical Champions for the Royal College of General Practitioners’ Genomics in Primary Care Programme. Here, they highlight resources created by RCGP to help general practitioners understand the impact and applications of genomics in primary care.

Genomics testing is increasing and growing numbers of patients are likely to present to their GP practice, as the gateway to NHS care, with issues and questions relating to themselves or family members. Genomics is already impacting in Primary Care in the fields of cancer and rare disease, altering the management of patients through improving diagnosis, risk prediction, prevention and treatment. The influence of genomics in prescribing and management of infectious disease in primary are potentially just around the corner.

With funding from Health Education England’s Genomics Education Programme, the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) has created educational and training resources to ensure that the workforce of today and the future is equipped to respond to fast-paced developments in genomics. These are based on outputs from the programme’s Primary Care Strategy identifying only those knowledge and skills required by primary care, avoiding overburdening with information. The College has published a four-part webinar series on familial cancer, rare disease, non-invasive prenatal testing (NIPT) and ethics. There is also a three-part podcast series with an introduction from RCGP Chair, Professor Helen Stokes Lampard. Podcast topics include genomics terminology, application of genomics in primary care and ethical, legal and social implications of genomics in primary care, including direct-to-consumer testing and pharmacogenomics.

To learn more, visit the RCGP and Genomics Education Programme websites.