Advanced Acne Therapy in Primary Care

Advanced Acne Therapy in Primary Care

New course starts Monday 9 March 2026, apply below 

Applications will close on 27 February, or earlier should the course reach full capacity.

Limited places available 

About this course

Advanced Acne Therapy in Primary Care aims to equip General Practitioners (GPs) with the clinical knowledge, practical skills, and interprofessional competencies required to manage patients with acne. GPs will be supported in selecting patients who may need treatment with isotretinoin and understand the responsibilities of primary care in patient selection, follow-up, and monitoring of isotretinoin treatment.

Who is this programme suitable for?

This course is open to GPs and trainee GPs who provide care to patients under the General Medical Services scheme. Kindly note that if you are not a registered GP or on a GP training scheme, your application will not be processed.

What will you learn?

On completion of the programme, learners will be able to:

• Assess acne severity and determine first line treatment.
• Reassess patients’ response to first line treatment to determine if second line treatment and/or isotretinoin is required.
• Determine optimal treatment pathway and identify suitability of patient for isotretinoin treatment.
• Monitor patients receiving isotretinoin for side effects, perform appropriate follow-up assessments, and support adherence to treatment.
• Manage communication with patients sensitively and accurately, ensuring informed decision-making and psychosocial support.
• Escalate concerns appropriately by identifying cases requiring re-referral or discontinuation of treatment.

Modules

Module 1: Initial Assessment and Treatment Options This module aims to enable GPs to confidently recognise acne severity, assess mental health implications, and initiate first line treatments (60 minutes, asynchronous)

Module 2: Isotretinoin and Its Place in Acne Treatment This module aims to familiarise GPs with second line treatment of acne with isotretinoin (60 minutes, asynchronous).

Tutorial 1: Initiation of Isotretinoin In this tutorial, participants will explore common scenarios suitable for isotretinoin initiation, consider initial assessment and dosage strategies, and discuss presentations requiring dermatology referral (90 minutes, live online).

Module 3: Monitoring Patients on Isotretinoin in Primary Care This module aims to support GPs in providing safe follow-up and ongoing monitoring of patients prescribed isotretinoin (60 minutes, asynchronous).

Module 4: Managing Side Effects and When to Discuss or Re-Refer This module aims to help GPs manage common isotretinoin side effects, identify adverse reactions, and escalate care when necessary (60 minutes, asynchronous).

Tutorial 2: Complex Cases and Communication Challenges In this tutorial, participants will explore complex cases complicated by comorbidities or poor adherence, they will identify effective communication frameworks for effective and empathetic conversations, and they will discuss how to navigate communication challenges with dermatologists and allied professionals (90 minutes, live online).

Assessments

There are four assessments, one after each module. All assessments are online and can be taken asynchronously. These include: multiple choice questions, case-based questions, interactive case-based quizzes, data interpretation tasks, timeline activities, branching scenarios, and reflections.

Dates 

• 9th March - 20 March - Module 1&2 - Self-directed learning

• Tutorials 1:Tuesday 24th March OR Thur 26th March 4.30 - 6pm 

• 30th March - 10th April - Module 3&4 - Self-directed learning

• Tutorial 2: Tuesday 14th April OR Thur 16th April -  4.30 - 6pm 

Please note live tutorials are mandatory

We will be allocating the tutorial groups and once confirmed we will send an email letting you know what dates you have been allocated

Price 250 euro