What can SAPC do for you – and what can you do with SAPC?

To launch our new SAPC blog, I thought I would reflect on a keynote lecture I recently gave at one of the society’s regional meetings (SAPC North) in my capacity as the Chair of SAPC. Within this talk, I aimed to describe the breadth of work SAPC does and the support our society offers – SAPC is so much more than just the Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM). 

So, what does being a member of SAPC mean?

The formal blurb on the SAPC website states that: “Membership of the Society for Academic Primary Care offers you the opportunity to belong to a group of primary care academics - clinicians, educators and health services researchers, who champion expertise in primary care research and education, and drive forward improvements in primary care services. In short, when SAPC was rebranded in 2000 we shifted our focus from supporting just undergraduate/postgraduate teaching and education, and ensuring adequate funding (in comparison with secondary care) to championing primary care research and education. Membership of SAPC enables you to register for the annual conference at the reduced registration fee for members. Your membership fee is tax deductible. Furthermore, support is available for members by the great variety of groups under the SAPC umbrella, including Special Interest Groups, the Mentorship scheme and, PHoCuS (supporting primary healthcare scientists).

What does SAPC do?

I summarised some of the national and international collaborations we have, emphasising the important work we do with the Royal College of General Practitioners, for example jointly funding and awarding the Yvonne Carter award for an Outstanding Early Career Researcher. In 2019 this was won by Dr Emma Wallace, who presented her work and received her award at SAPC ASM in Exeter in July 2019, and at the RCGP annual conference in Liverpool in October 2019. The WISE GP work led by Professor Joanne Reeve, funded by SAPC, deserves a special mention as an initiative supported by both RCGP and SAPC, so to does our relationship with AAAPC (Australasian Association for Academic Primary Care) and NAPCRAG (North American Primary Care Research Group), with the reciprocal award of travel prizes, was emphasised.

What does the future of SAPC look like?

This presentation, at the end of a very successful SAPC North conference, hosted by the University of Central Lancashire, also included audience participation, and I asked folks to write down on the back of a SAPC postcard:

“Why did you come to this conference?”

“What else you think SAPC should be doing.”

“How you would like to get involved.”

I have collated the responses, and will take a summary to our next SAPC Executive meeting in January 2020. Hopefully my keynote will have encouraged more people to join SAPC. 

For me, I am looking forward to attending the Trent regional meeting on 31st March 2020, and the ASM in Leeds in July. Hope to see you there!