Katie Jane Edwards
University of Sheffield, UK
Title: Medical students’ perceptions of general practice: Influencing future primary care education
Biography
Biography: Katie Jane Edwards
Abstract
Background: The current interest in General Practice (GP) at medical school is low. In 2020 the NHS is expected to be short of 12100 general practitioners and the GP training program has recruited below target level in recent years. There is a lack of hard evidence on how to improve student interest in GP. Preferences towards specialties occur at medical school therefore, it is necessary to discover medical student’s opinions on general practice placements and how to make changes at medical school to improve future perceptions of the career.
Methods: 16 medical students who had completed one or more general practice placements were recruited via convenience and snowball sampling to participate in a semi-structured interview. The questions were based on perceptions of general practice, how they occur and how the negative perceptions can be challenged. The data was analyzed using the grounded theory approach to extract the themes present throughout the data.
Findings: Key perceptions expressed by interviewees regarding GP were balanced, positive and negative, amongst the sample. Common recommendations made to promote general practice as a specialty include equal weighting of GP compared to other specialties; highlight the diversity of GP and compulsory specialty focused career guidance.
Discussion: To increase the number of GP trainees, perceptions of GP need to be changed. The main areas of contribution are the quality of placements, exposure to good supervisors and peer and public sharing of perceptions. Medical student views can be useful in shaping future teaching of primary care education.