The Apollo Hospitals group and the UK-based Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) have entered into an agreement for promoting family medicine and emergency medicine at the primary level in the country.

Under the agreement, a three-month diploma programme in family medicine, a one-year fellowship programme in family medicine and a one-year fellowship programme in emergency medicine will be conducted for medical practitioners having a basic degree.

According to Sangeetha Reddy, Managing Director of the Apollo Hospitals, the courses would be launched in mid-August and the curriculum for them had been developed. RCGP would monitor the courses, conduct examinations and certify the successful candidates.

The courses are meant to upgrade the medical knowledge and skills of doctors with the help of information technology. Initially, the courses would be started in Hyderabad and Chennai and would be extended to Delhi as the demand grew, Reddy said and added that facilities would be set up all over the country to extend the benefits to all.

Dr. Garth Manning, Medical Director of the international unit of RCGP, said that his college would extend similar collaborative arrangements with other institutes of eexcellence from any country if they came forward with specific proposals.