General Practice

The objective of the Department of General Practice is to provide evidence that will improve daily clinical practice for adults with musculoskeletal disorders and osteoarthritis, children and the intellectually disabled.

The department is also responsible for training and educating general practitioners (GPs), specialist training of physicians for people with intellectual disabilities and postgraduate training for GPs with a special interest in musculoskeletal disorders. It also participates in the basic training of doctors.

The department has three research interests:

Musculoskeletal disorders and osteoarthritis
This research focus is designed to improve and evaluate the management of acute and chronic musculoskeletal disorders in general practice. There is a clear need for reliable and valid evidence for developing and updating the current musculoskeletal clinical guidelines in primary care. Another research focus is osteoarthritis, one of the main diseases in an ageing society.

General practice for children
With the aim of improving and evaluating the management of frequently occurring diseases in childhood in general practice, this research focuses on generating reliable valid evidence for developing and updating the current clinical guidelines in primary care. Research includes children with musculoskeletal disorders, overweight, allergic rhinitis, asthma and atopic dermatitis and fever.

Intellectual disability medicine
Innovative research on intellectual disability medicine among those with intellectual disabilities also generates insights into the underlying mechanisms of frailty. Research on frailty in handicapped groups has not been done before. Its outcomes, which resonate in
the intellectual disability field, both nationally and internationally, have led to several care improvement initiatives.

The studies of the Department of General Practice are designed from a clinical epidemiological perspective and include large prospective cohort studies, diagnostic studies, and randomised clinical trials.

For more information, faculty member profiles, and publications, visit the Department of General Practice website.