Students' and general practitioners' perceptions of a recently introduced clerkship in general practice. A survey from Austria.
BACKGROUND
In autumn 2007, the Medical University of Graz (MUG) upgraded the status of general practice in medical training by integrating a compulsory five-week clerkship in general practice surgeries in the sixth and last year of the curriculum. In cooperation with the Styrian Academy of General Practice (STAFAM), more than 200 general practitioners (GPs) had been accredited to introduce medical students to the specific tasks, problems and decision-making process in general practice. Between October 2007 and June 2009, more than 300 students completed the clerkship.


OBJECTIVE
To explore the perceptions of students and GPs towards this new approach to undergraduate teaching in Austrian general practice.


METHODS
Between March and June 2009, we conducted a cross-sectional survey by using a self-administered questionnaire with 14 items for students as well as GPs. To limit recall bias, we gave the questionnaire to all students (n = 146) and GPs (n = 146) immediately after the clerkship. The response rates were 146/146 (100%) and 114/146 (78%) for students and GPs, respectively.


RESULTS
The study results show high satisfaction rates among students as well as GPs. Most of the students and GPs perceive the compulsory clerkship in general practice as an essential part of medical education. The organization of the clerkship had the least positive outcome.


CONCLUSIONS
Our survey shows that the clerkship is well accepted among Austrian medical students and GPs.
Sprenger
Martin
M
Baumgartner
Julia
J
Moser
Adrian
A
Salzer
Helmut J F
HJ
Stigler
Florian L
FL
Wendler
Michael
M
D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D001317:Austria; D002982:Clinical Clerkship / Q000458:organization & administration*; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D003657:Decision Making; D005260:Female; D058006:General Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000523:psychology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult