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Background The Prevocational General Practice Placement programme ( PGPPP) aims to provide junior doctors with professional, well-supervised, educational rotations in general practice. There is a paucity of literature evaluating the educational effectiveness of the PGPPP. This study aims to compare general practice rotations with hospital rotations, with respect to teaching and support, acquisition of skills and knowledge, and role autonomy. Methods All junior doctors who participated in a PGPPP rotation were invited to complete a voluntary anonymous online survey using the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure ( PHEEM) inventory. The PHEEM presents Likert scales grouped into four subscales for participants to rate statements about their rotations. Surveys were completed at the end of the year in which doctors undertook a PGPPP rotation, and covered all rotations. These survey findings were used to compare general practice and hospital rotations. Results In all four subscales of teaching, clinical skills, social support and role autonomy, the general practice rotation performed as well as, or better than, hospital rotations in the areas of emergency, medicine, and surgery. General practice outperformed all other rotations in 15 out of 20 statements across all subscales. Discussion This study demonstrates the educational value of a general practice placement in comparison with hospital placements. Expansion of the PGPPP should be considered to provide all junior doctors with the benefits of exposure to generalist skills in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Medical students, junior hospital doctors on rotation and general practice (GP) registrars are undertaking their training in clinical general practices in increasing numbers in Australia. Some practices have four levels of learner. This study aimed to explore how multi-level teaching (also called vertical integration of GP education and training) is occurring in clinical general practice and the impact of such teaching on the learner. Methods A qualitative research methodology was used with face-to-face, semi-structured interviews of medical students, junior hospital doctors, GP registrars and GP teachers in eight training practices in the region that taught all levels of learners. Interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed. Qualitative analysis was conducted using thematic analysis techniques aided by the use of the software package N-Vivo 9. Primary themes were identified and categorised by the co-investigators. Results 52 interviews were completed and analysed. Themes were identified relating to both the practice learning environment and teaching methods used. A practice environment where there is a strong teaching culture, enjoyment of learning, and flexible learning methods, as well as learning spaces and organised teaching arrangements, all contribute to positive learning from a learners' perspective. Learners identified a number of innovative teaching methods and viewed them as positive. These included multi-level learner group tutorials in the practice, being taught by a team of teachers, including GP registrars and other health professionals, and access to a supernumerary GP supervisor (also termed "GP consultant teacher"). Other teaching methods that were viewed positively were parallel consulting, informal learning and rural hospital context integrated learning. Conclusions Vertical integration of GP education and training generally impacted positively on all levels of learner. This research has provided further evidence about the learning culture, structures and teaching processes that have a positive impact on learners in the clinical general practice setting where there are multiple levels of learners. It has also identified some innovative teaching methods that will need further examination. The findings reinforce the importance of the environment for learning and learner centred approaches and will be important for training organisations developing vertically integrated practices and in their training of GP teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and aim The Australian general practitioner ( GP) teaching workforce will need to expand in order to provide for the increasing number of medical students and doctors-in-training. Understanding factors that motivate GPs to become involved in teaching in their clinical practice environments is important for developing recruitment and retention strategies. Method Thirty-one semi-structured interviews were conducted with a cross section of GP teachers and were subjected to thematic analysis. Themes were identified and further classified as motivations and prerequisites for teaching. Results The desire to update clinical knowledge was the most frequently mentioned motivation for teaching, and was described as a strategy for GP teachers to preserve clinical competence through the opportunity to learn new aspects of medicine from junior colleagues. Other motivations included personal fulfillment and enjoyment of teaching, the opportunity to pass on general practice skills and knowledge, promoting general practice as a career, and fulfilling a sense of responsibility to the profession and community. Peers, students and patients also influenced the decision to teach. Most GPs identified that time, workload, availability of space and adequate financial remuneration were prerequisites for teaching. Practice owners also often determined the GP teachers' capacity to teach. Discussion To increase the recruitment and retention of GP teachers, it is recommended that teaching organisations give more recognition to teaching as a clinical professional development activity, place more emphasis on GPs' personal enjoyment, professional responsibility and pride in teaching, and increase engagement with practice owners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses research done on the vertical integration of teaching and clinical training in general practice in Australia. The study procedure included a survey of regional training providers (RTPs). Results indicated the development by 11 RTPs of vertical integration initiatives while others urged registrars to teach medical students and junior doctors.