Undergraduate teaching in UK general practice: a geographical snapshot

Abstract

BackgroundLearning in general practice is an essential component of undergraduate medical education; currently, on average, 13% of clinical placements in the UK are in general practice. However, whether general practice can sustainably deliver more undergraduate placements is uncertain.

The epidemiology of teaching and training General Practices in England

“…This study complements our previous study reporting the geographical distribution of teaching practices 15 …”

“…15 We linked these datasets using practice identifiers and postcodes and then linked them to census Lower Layer Super Output areas (LSOAs, areas of between 1000 and 3000 residents) as an indicator of practice demographics. 18 From the LSOA linked census data we took: 19 : This is a composite measure of deprivation in geographical areas in the UK (see box 1) calculated using Geoconvert, an online geography matching service provided by UK Data Service census support.…”

“…15 These postcodes were matched to the postcodes of the practices in the other datasets. When there was more than one practice in a single postcode, we reviewed practice websites to determine the teaching practice.…”

“…We have previously described the geographical distribution of undergraduate teaching practices in the UK but have not formally examined their association with deprivation or rural or urban status. 15 We now report a study linking our database of undergraduate teaching practices with the English national general practice datasets, describing the association between undergraduate teaching and postgraduate training status with deprivation, ethnicity of those living in the locality, urban and rural status and the self-reported health status of patients served by the practices.…”

Lost in translation? Paradigm conflict at the primary–secondary care interface

“…However, a majority of those choosing secondary care careers will have no experience of primary care work beyond undergraduate placements in general practice. In the UK National Health Service (NHS), around 90% of patient contacts occur in primary care (general practice) and the government aims for approximately 50% of graduates to enter general practice, yet medical education still reflects a strong bias towards secondary care; a 2014 study found UK medical school curriculums delivering an average of 14% of teaching in general practice settings . Yet for doctors who have experience of only one of these two major medical paradigms, it is difficult to conceptualise what the other is or how systems work within it.…”