[Postgraduate education in family and community medicine. The importance of differences between health care activity of the tutor and the resident].
OBJECTIVE
To find the health-care activity of Family and Community Medicine (FCM) Interns (I) during their third year of Primary Care duties, to check the existence of significant differences with the Tutor's (T) health-care activity, and to evaluate, using the requests for complementary tests and the referral rate, possible qualitative differences in the outcome of on-demand consultations.


METHODS
A descriptive and retrospective observation study, with two parts, each corresponding to one objective.


METHODS
Primary Health Care. The Carmen Health Centre in Murcia, used for teaching postgraduate FCM.


METHODS
A sample of 489 cases of those requesting health consultations between February 1st and December 21st, 1990 for the first part of the study; and all those consultations between April 8th and May 8th, 1991 for the second part. Covering five family practices.


RESULTS
The variables studied were: gender, age, the first or second medical consultation, administrative consultations, reasons for the consultation, the number of inter-referrals and the number of complementary tests. The I had fewer consultations a day than the T (p < 0.001), with a greater proportion of young people between 26 and 35 (p < 0.001) and with first (p < 0.001) and administrative (p < 0.001) consultations predominating. However no differences were observed regarding requests for complementary tests and referral rates.


CONCLUSIONS
1. Significant differences exist between the health-care activity of the T and the I. 2. The population selects the doctor who is going to care for them. 3. There were no differences observed in requests for complementary tests and the referral rates. 4. It would be important to assess the teaching repercussion of these differences and to introduce corrective mechanisms if it is thought necessary.
León Martínez
L P
LP
Unidad Docente de Medicina Familiar y Comunitaria, Centro de Salud del Barrio del Carmen, Murcia.
Gómez Jara
P
P
Martínez González-Moro
N
N
Navarro Martínez
A
A
Guillén Montiel
C
C
Saura Llamas
J
J
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003154:Community Medicine / Q000193:education*; D004503:Education, Medical, Graduate; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011320:Primary Health Care; D012017:Referral and Consultation; D013030:Spain
La formación posgraduada en medicina familiar y comunitaria. La importancia de las diferencias entre la actividad asistencial del tutor y del residente.