NB Medical - About Simon Curtis and Barrie Ferguson

Simon co-founded the NB Medical Hot Topics course in 1998 and has taught on every course since. He has a passion for General Practice which is conveyed in his teaching style. He works part-time preparing the material for the course, and part-time in clinical practice.

He qualified from University College, London in 1988 and started his career in hospital medicine becoming MRCP in 1992. After drifting through various medical specialities he found his true vocation when he moved into General Practice in 1995, doing his GP registrar year in Oxford . The following year he passed his MRCGP with distinction and then worked as a GP locum before returning to his training practice as a partner in 1997. He worked as a GP partner in Oxford from 1997 to 2003, during which time he also had experience as a VTS course organiser in Oxford and as a university tutor in primary care. He loves to experience life abroad; he has worked as a GP in Australia and between 2004 and 2008 practised in Italy. In 2008 he will be returning to Oxford, joining as a partner a large city centre training practice.

Barrie founded the course with Simon in 1998. She left in April 2001 to start her family. She now has a 4 and a 5 year old and returned to the course last autumn (2007). She trained at St Bartholomew's Hospital qualifying in 1989. Like Simon she started off in hospital medicine, gaining MRCP in 1993. She did 2 years research with the Department of Neurology in Oxford before "discovering" general practice - a career move she has never regretted!! She passed MRCGP with distinction in 1998 and started working at Wonford Green Surgery, Exeter in 1999. She now does 4 sessions per week in the practice and 2 sessions per week preparing for the course.