27.05.15
RCGP outcry at declining general practice training for medical students
GP leaders are outraged at new research that shows the amount of time medical students spend being taught general practice is decreasing.
The research, published in the British Journal of General Practice, shows that the total amount of general practice teaching has fallen by two weeks since 2002.
The report concludes that the amount of general practice teaching for medical students may be “insufficient to meet the considerable workforce development needed to ensure adequate community-based care in the future”.
It remarks that the current quantity of undergraduate training contrasts strikingly with the targets for GP workforce expansion set by the government – which require 50% of postgraduate training places to be in general practice.
It adds that one factor that increases the likelihood of students choosing a career as a GP is learning in a general practice environment.
The report says: “The quantity of time provided for teaching students in general practice, which was already low, has plateaued, and may be falling. Current financial arrangements for undergraduate teaching, lack of support, and increasing service demands may go some way to explain this. A national re-examination of undergraduate curricular priorities and associated funding may be necessary to deliver workforce plans for general practice. Careful central planning may be needed to support the necessary changes.”
Reacting to the study, Professor Maureen Baker, chair of the Royal College GPs, said it was “astonishing” and “outrageous” that the proportion of time spent in general practice placements is falling.
“All medical schools have a responsibility to promote the opportunities and challenges of a career as a GP. They receive public money and should therefore contribute to the production of a balanced workforce,” she said.
“General practice is the cornerstone of the NHS and it is in everyone’s best interest to encourage students into general practice so that we can build the GP workforce, continue to alleviate pressures elsewhere in the health service and deliver better services to our patients.
“Failure to promote general practice as a career by universities could have a devastating impact on the profession and the NHS as a whole.”
She added that the clinical budget allocated to fund teaching in general practice is "so miniscule" that perhaps it is not surprising that newly-qualified doctors often have “unfounded poor perceptions” of general practice as a medical career and may view it as a second-best choice.
The researchers surveyed 29 university medical departments in the UK, and found that the number of 3.5-hour teaching sessions per student delivered in general practice during medical undergraduate courses declined by 14%, from 119 sessions in 2003 to 102 currently equating to 1.7 fewer weeks.
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