This qualitative scoping study exploring career paths of current members of the academic primary care community. The study spoke with staff at various career stages, including people with research and education roles. Both clinicians and Primary Healthcare scientists were included in the study. The report highlights some common problems experienced across the academic primary care community. The report was published in Primary Health Care Researcch and Development and has been used to inform subsequent surveys and the development of SAPC career support strategy. For further information,...

The 2013 winning entry in the SAPC Dangerous Ideas soapbox proposed that physiotherapists, not GPs, would be the best gatekeepers for primary care musculoskeletal services. Annette Bishop, Nadine Foster and Peter Croft explain their ideas in this SAPC Hot Topic article .

The latest of the SAPC Hot Topic papers, published in our sister journal Primary Health Care Research & Development , looks at how we raise the profile of APC. The report considers both the opportunities and the necessity to make academic primary care practice more visible to a wider audience if we are to maximise impact from our discipline. Jeremy Horwood, communications lead on SAPC Exec, outlines the new tools available to us for dissemination and public engagement. And suggests that as academics we need to expand our expertise: from being at the forefront of knowledge production, to...

In this latest SAPC Hot Topic article , Sarah Mosedale and Paul Wallace provide an overview of NHS organisational changes focusing on the implications and opportunities for academic primary care. In particular, the importance of describing a clear vision of how APC offers solutions in a changing primary care context, and promoting the relevance of curiosity-driven primary care research. The report is an example of SAPC working collaboratively with the wider primary care community (in this case, the Clinical Research Networks) to maximise our capacity to make a difference through education and...

The inaugural winner of the SAPC annual Dangerous Ideas soapbox competition offered an example of blue sky thinking making a difference in primary care. Scott Murray argued that since death is a fact of life, we need to spend more time talking about death. Research from the academic primary care community supports five reasons why “bringing death back to life” would be good for patients, practitioners, the NHS and wider society. Professor Murray and Dr Adam Firth outlined their ideas in this SAPC Hot Topic article .

Academic primary care derives its strength from its multidisciplinary makeup, which provides the balance of methodological and topic expertise to support work which is relevant and timely. Diversity supports impact, but also creates a challenge to integrate and support the needs of a diverse group. This report describes the start of ongoing work by SAPC to identify and support the specific needs of Primary Health Care scientists (the PHoCuS group). It focuses on the establishment of a mentorship scheme – now thriving and being expanded out to other SAPC members.

This SAPC Hot Topic article responded to the recent report by Professor Graham Watt calling for greater recognition of the importance of blue sky research in primary care. Joanne Reeve and Christian Mallen discuss the challenges for the APC community in responding to the highlighted gap. They propose that capacity for blue sky thinking is essential to distinguish a distinct discipline of academic primary care from, for example, health services research undertaken in a primary care context. They highlight work led by SAPC to create space for blue sky thinking, for example at the Dangerous...

Health literacy describes the ability to access, understand and use health information, including being able to navigate health services. In this latest SAPC Hot Topic article , Dr Jo Protheroe and Professor Gill Rowlands outline why research in Health Literacy matters. SAPC has long recognized the importance of health literacy in primary care, forming a Special Interest Group in 2010. The group has developed since then in to Health Literacy UK working to raise understanding of the impact of Health Literacy on people and their lives, supporting national policy to reduce health inequalities.

Education and teaching lie at the heart of excellence in primary care. In this Hot Topic piece , Dr Sophie Park and colleagues discuss the importance of educational research in tackling the challenges and opportunities offered by a changing primary care context. They describe the work of a new SAPC Special Interest Group, bringing together educators and researchers from multiple disciplines to develop and share expertise. And so highlight how educational research can contribute to making a difference through academic primary care.

Here , primary care academics reflect on moments from the 2011 SAPC Conference which made them “stop and think” – in ways in which the conference showcased SAPC goal to advance primary care through education and research. Attendees highlighted the distinctive academic primary care perspective, and the emphasis on translational research as key elements of value.