Edwards R, White M, Chappel D, Gray J
Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, School of Health Sciences, The Medical School, University of Newcastle, Newcastle upon Tyne.
J Public Health Med. 1999 Jun;21(2):150-7. doi: 10.1093/pubmed/21.2.150.
Despite frequent calls to improve undergraduate medical public health teaching, little is known about whether curricula have changed. We report a survey of undergraduate public health teaching in UK medical schools in 1996. The survey aimed to assess whether the General Medical Council's 1993 recommendations to strengthen undergraduate medical education in public health have been implemented.
We asked heads of academic departments of public health at all 26 UK medical schools to complete a questionnaire and provide supporting documentation for each undergraduate public health course or module. We compared results from the 1996 survey with those from a similar survey in 1992.
Twenty-one out of 26 (81 per cent) medical schools responded. All responding medical schools included public health teaching within their curriculum. The median number of public health courses per medical school was unchanged since 1992. A wide variety of topics were taught. Core public health subjects were taught at most schools, though over a quarter of medical schools did not cover some core topics. Between 1992 and 1996 the proportion of time devoted to teaching by lectures decreased, whereas the following all increased: teaching by small group methods; the proportion of courses using methods of assessment encouraging active learning; and the contribution of public health courses to the final degree assessment.
The findings suggest that many of the General Medical Council's recommendations for improving the delivery of undergraduate education are being addressed by public health teaching in UK medical schools. However, addressing the gaps in undergraduate public health teaching revealed in this survey is a continuing challenge for academic public health departments. Medical schools should review the content of their undergraduate public health teaching to ensure that tomorrow's doctors are adequately equipped with public health knowledge and skills.
尽管人们经常呼吁改进本科医学公共卫生教学，但对于课程是否发生了变化却知之甚少。我们报告了1996年对英国医学院校本科公共卫生教学的一项调查。该调查旨在评估1993年英国医学总会关于加强本科医学公共卫生教育的建议是否得到实施。
我们要求英国所有26所医学院校的公共卫生学术部门负责人填写一份问卷，并为每门本科公共卫生课程或模块提供支持性文件。我们将1996年调查的结果与1992年类似调查的结果进行了比较。
26所医学院校中有21所（81%）做出了回应。所有做出回应的医学院校都在其课程中纳入了公共卫生教学。自1992年以来，每所医学院校公共卫生课程的中位数没有变化。教授的主题多种多样。大多数学校都教授核心公共卫生科目，不过超过四分之一的医学院校没有涵盖某些核心主题。1992年至1996年间，讲座授课时间所占比例下降，而以下各项均有所增加：小组教学法的授课时间；采用鼓励主动学习的评估方法的课程比例；以及公共卫生课程对最终学位评估的贡献。
研究结果表明，英国医学院校的公共卫生教学正在落实英国医学总会提出的许多改进本科教育的建议。然而，填补本次调查中揭示的本科公共卫生教学空白，对公共卫生学术部门来说仍是一项持续的挑战。医学院校应审查其本科公共卫生教学内容，以确保未来的医生具备足够的公共卫生知识和技能。
