Specialist Training in Family Medicine in Malta takes place under the auspices of the government’s Primary HealthCare Department, with the Malta College of Family Doctors responsible for ensuring the quality of academic training and assessment. As a result of Malta’s accession to the European Union in 2004, family medicine was accepted as a specialty and a ‘Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine – Malta’ was drawn up by the Malta College of Family Doctors (MCFD) in 2005 and approved by the Ministry of Health’s Specialist Accreditation Committee (SAC) in 2006. The ‘Curriculum for Specialist Training in Family Medicine for Malta’ was published in 2009 by the MCFD’s Curriculum Board. In 2017 the SAC approved a third edition of the ‘Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine – Malta‘ prepared by the MCFD. In 2021 the MCFD published the 2nd edition of the Specialist Training in Family Medicine Curriculum.
The Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine (STPFM) was launched in 2007 and is run on behalf of the Primary HealthCare by two Postgraduate Training Coordinators in Family Medicine, Dr Mario R Sammut and Dr Gunther Abela, with Assistant Postgraduate Training Coordinators in Family Medicine, Dr Sonia Abela, Dr Glorianne Pullicino and Dr Anne-Marie Scerri.
So as to focus on the learning needs of family medicine, the three-year programme is based in family practice and taught by GP (general practitioner) trainers, while supplemented by attachments with appropriate hospital specialties. Thus each GP Trainee undergoes training by working under the supervision of a GP Trainer in primary health care, and under the supervision of a hospital supervisor in various departments within secondary health care (Medicine, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Accident & Emergency, Orthopaedics, Dermatology, ENT, Geriatrics, Palliative Care, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry). Moreover, from October to June, the trainees participate in an academic Half-Day Release Course consisting of afternoon teaching sessions taking place on a weekly basis.
In July 2010 the first cohort of 11 trainees undertook the summative examination, which was organized by the MCFD under the supervision of the UK’s Royal College of General Practitioners. Since then the summative examination is being held annually. For satisfactory completion of training, a trainee must successfully conclude the training programme and the formative/summative assessment process. On successful completion, participants will be recommended by the MCFD to the SAC for certification as having completed the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine and inclusion as Specialists in Family Medicine in Malta’s Specialist Accreditation Register. They will also be awarded the Membership of the Malta College of Family Doctors, and would be entitled to apply for the International Membership of the Royal College of General Practitioners (MRCGP[INT]) after the RCGP announced in 2016 that it had extended MRCGP[INT] accreditation to Malta till 2019 and subsequently re-extended it on a year-to-year basis.”.
Progamme Details
The Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine (STPFM) is designed to focus on the learning needs of family medicine. The STPFM is a three-year programme based in family practice and taught by GP (general practitioner) trainers, while supplemented by attachments with appropriate hospital specialties. Thus each GP Trainee undergoes training by working under the supervision of a GP Trainer in primary health care, and under the supervision of a hospital supervisor in various departments within secondary health care. During this three-year programme the GP trainee spends one and a half years training in family medicine, and the other one and a half years exposed to the fields of Medicine, Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, Accident & Emergency, Orthopaedics, Dermatology, ENT, Geriatrics, Palliative Care, Ophthalmology and Psychiatry. The exposure in the secondary health care specialties is specifically targeted so that the trainee is exposed to the family medicine aspect of that particular hospital specialty. The attachments are not consecutive, but there is a three monthly rotation. For example after three months of family medicine the trainee goes on to follow a three month attachment in Medicine.
During those three years, besides working under the supervision of a GP trainer in a one-to-one relationship, the trainee also has tutorials once weekly with his GP trainer. The GP trainer will continue following the development and support his trainee also during the hospital attachments with the hospital clinical supervisor. Tutorials with the GP trainer will likewise continue during the secondary care attachments.
Moreover, from October to June, the trainees participate in an academic Half-Day Release Course (HDRC) consisting of afternoon teaching sessions taking place on a weekly basis. The trainees will have protected time and therefore will be released from their duties in order to be able to attend the HDRC. The HDRC timetable of the 2010-2013 cohort of trainees can be downloaded from here. A minimum HDRC attendance of 85% is necessary in order to progress to the next year of training.
All the above educational experiences are collected in an electronic educational portfolio which, besides being a formative tool, will constitute the basis of the yearly appraisal. In fact for the trainee to progress from one year to the next, one must pass this appraisal. The GP trainee yearly appraisal document can be downloaded from here. The educational portfolio will demonstrate that the trainee has fulfilled the requirements of his attachments. Based on the paper version of the Educational Portfolio that can be viewed at this link, the ePortfolio is hosted by the Malta Postgraduate Medical Training Centre (MPMTC) ePortfolio at https://myeportfolio.gov.mt/.
At the end of the three year programme, a summative assessment will take place. This involves three parts – clinical skills assessment or recorded consultation assessment, an applied knowledge test, and a workplace based assessment. The educational portfolio will be used to assess the workplace based assessment.
A list of trainees who are currently following the programme can be found by following this link. The trainers currently participating in the STPFM can also be found by following that link. A list of past trainees and their respective trainers can be found at this link.
Information For Prospective Applicants
Calls for application for entry into the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine are normally issued in early spring and may be monitored here.
A 5-day taster can be organised in the specialty of family medicine whilst one is following the Foundation Programme Malta. You may contact the Foundation Programme Office to be able to organise a taster in the specialty of your choice. Please advise us well ahead of your intended taster so that we will be able to organise this for you. You are entitled to 5 days study leave for this taster experience. You can download the taster timetable so that you may have an idea of what it entails.
Half-day seminars are occasionally organised for those doctors wishing to know more about the specialty of family medicine and about the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine. Please contact the STPFM coordinators if you are interested in attending such a seminar. You can download the programme of a recent seminar in order to have an idea of what is covered in these seminars.
Interested doctors can browse through a detailed overview of the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine.
You are invited to read an interview on ‘The Times Weekender‘ of 1st August 2009 given to Dr. Moira Mizzi by the STPFM Coordinators regarding the training programme and a testimonial from a family doctor trainee who finished the training programme in July 2010″. Also of interest is the speech the President of Malta gave at the graduation of Specialists in Family Medicine on the 30th June 2022 that may be read here.
Further information may be sought by contacting the coordinators of the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine.
Faculty
Coordinators of the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine
Dr Mario R Sammut MD DipHSc MScH MScPC&GP(Ulster) FMCFD MRCGP[INT]
Dr Gunther Abela MD, MMCFD, MRCEM, FIMC.RCS(Ed), PG Cert Clin Lds (Open), MSc Clinical Leadership (Swansea), LLCM
Assistant Coordinators of the Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine
Dr Sonia Abela MD, MMCFD, PgCAP, FHEA, Dip.Ther (ICGP), Dip.Women’s Health (ICGP), E.C.E.Pall.Care, Cert.Diabetes Mgmt, FLCM
Dr Glorianne Pullicino MD, PG Dip (Diabetes), MSc (Public Health Medicine), MMCFD, MRCGP (INT)
Dr Anne Marie Scerri MD, MSc (Pharmacology), MMCFD, CCST, MRCGPint
Past Trainee Cohorts (Click here for more information)
Family Medicine Trainers and Trainees participating in the STPFM
Third Year Trainees and their respective Trainers
Second Year Trainees and their respective Trainers
First Year Trainees and their respective Trainers
Contact Details
The Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine (STPFM) was launched in 2007 and is run on behalf of the Primary HealthCare by two Postgraduate Training Coordinators in Family Medicine, Dr Mario R Sammut and Dr Gunther Abela, with Assistant Postgraduate Training Coordinators in Family Medicine, Dr Sonia Abela, Dr Glorianne Pullicino and Dr Anne-Marie Scerri.
Contact Details
Dr Mario R Sammut MD DipHSc MScH MScPC&GP(Ulster) FMCFD MRCGP[INT]
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr Gunther Abela MD, MMCFD, MRCEM, FIMC.RCS(Ed), PG Cert Clin Lds (Open), MSc Clinical Leadership (Swansea), LLCM
E-mail: [email protected]
Dr Sonia Abela MD, MMCFD, PgCAP, FHEA, Dip,Ther(ICGP), Dip.Women’s Health (ICGP), E.C.E.Pall.Care, Cert.Diabetes Mgmt, FLCM
Email: [email protected]
Dr Glorianne Pullicino MD, PG Dip (Diabetes), MSc (Public Health Medicine), MMCFD, MRCGP (INT)
Email: [email protected]
Dr Anne Marie Scerri MD, MSc (Pharmacology), MMCFD, CCST, MRCGPint
Email: [email protected]
Postgraduate Training Coordinators,
Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine
Primary HealthCare
7 Harper Lane, Floriana FRN 1940, MALTA
Other Information Links
Website of the Malta College of Family Doctors
Website of the Malta Foundation Programme
Postgraduate Medical Training website