What do Wessex general practitioners think about the structure of hospital vocational training?
OBJECTIVE
To assess the views of general practitioners about the structure and content of hospital vocational training and its relation to the training year.


METHODS
Postal questionnaire.


METHODS
Wessex, England.


METHODS
General practitioner trainees undertaking practice training year (n = 144), course organisers (n = 22), and a random sample of two thirds of trainers (n = 135).


RESULTS
Questionnaires were returned from 86% (260): 84% of trainees (121), 92% of trainers (124), and 68% of course organisers (15). Most respondents in all groups (84.3%, 95% confidence interval 79.7% to 88.8%) wanted more jobs lasting two and three months to allow a greater range of hospital specialties to be experienced and some of the training year to be carried out before hospital jobs (66.3%, 60.4% to 72.1%). Most hospital specialties were rated at least 6 out of 10 as "useful" for general practice training. A substantial minority of training posts did not have regular weekly teaching (166/541; 30.7%, 26.8% to 34.6%) and had no half day (224/541; 41.4%, 37.3% to 45.6%), and over half gave no study leave (293/541; 54.2%, 50.0% to 58.4%).


CONCLUSIONS
The structure of hospital training should be reviewed as it does not reflect the views of most trainees, course organisers, or trainers. Individual posts need closer supervision to ensure the availability of basic training requirements. More trainees should be allowed to spend a short time in the general practice before hospital rotations and to choose a greater range of shorter jobs.
Little
P
P
Nightingale Surgery, Romsey, Hampshire.
D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D004739:England; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D006784:Hospitals, Teaching / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D010821:Physicians, Family / Q000523:psychology*; D015397:Program Evaluation; D011897:Random Allocation; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013663:Teaching