Comparing patients' perceptions of IMGs and local Australian graduates in rural general practice.
BACKGROUND
Despite criticism of the clinical performance of international medical graduates (IMGs), little is known about the views of patients within a general practice setting.


METHODS
A survey was conducted to measure the responses of 1127 patients of 10 GPs, five IMGs and five Australian graduates. The General Practice Assessment Questionnaire was used to assess the attitudes of patients towards attributes of the consultation and how the patient felt in terms of understanding and coping with their problem or illness.


CONCLUSIONS
No statistically significant differences were found in any of the reported categories, although there were some responses that approached significance and warrant further investigation. The level of patient satisfaction with, and acceptance of, received care was similar whether the GP was an IMG or not.
Harding
Catherine
C
Notre Dame-Calvary Rural Clinical Subschool, Wagga Wagga, University of Notre Dame Australia, New South Wales, Australia. chard@bigpond.net.au
Parajuli
Naresh
N
Johnston
Luke
L
Pilotto
Louis
L
D001290:Attitude; D001315:Australia; D005194:Family Practice; D005550:Foreign Medical Graduates; D006801:Humans; D010361:Patients / Q000523:psychology*; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D019035:Rural Health Services; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires