25 Nov 07

Dr Ann McPherson CBE, Oxford University lecturer in General Practice, has received the George Abercrombie award for meritorious literary work in general practice at the Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) Annual General Meeting.

The George Abercrombie Award is made for special meritorious literary work in general practice. Special consideration is given to contributions to the literature of general practice internationally.

Dr McPherson is a well-respected author with books aimed at both a medical and non-medical audience. Her book Women’s Health is one of the most successful titles in the Oxford General Practice series, and is now in its fifth edition.

Dr McPherson is also responsible for two websites for patients. The first, teenagehealthfreak.org offers help, information, and advice for teenagers concerned about their health. The second is the Database of Individual Patients’ Experiences (www.DIPEx.org), a large collection of personal patient experiences of health and illness. Patients can watch, listen to or read their interviews, and find reliable information on treatment choices and where to find support. DIPEx was launched in 2001, and the site receives two million hits a month.

The Royal College of General Practitioners is a network of over 30,000 family doctors working to improve care for patients, working to maintain high standards of general medical practice and acting as the voice of GPs on education, training, research and clinical standards.