Higher professional training in general practice: provision of master's degree courses in the United Kingdom in 1993.

Review of a 1993 survey of the 29 United Kingdom departments of general practice (or equivalent) identified seven master's degree courses available for general practitioners. Up to another 11 are planned within the next five years. Around 50 general practitioners undertake all such courses at any one time. Possible reasons for this low uptake include cost, lack of flexibility of courses, and the prospect of writing a thesis. Appropriate master's courses are essential to the future development of general practice, and this paper postulates the characteristics of an "ideal" course.