[Clerkship in general practice--organized for learning?].

BACKGROUND

Clerkship in general practice has been considered removed from the fifth year at the University of Oslo for economical reasons. During the autumn 2007, we evaluated the clerkship after the implementation of a new feedback tool, StudPEP. This study presents how the clerkship was organized for learning based on pedagogical advice for effective learning.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

79 of 81 students completed a questionnaire regarding the clerkship. After five independent tutor-observed consultations, the students recorded their patients' diagnosis, age and gender, in a total of 363 consultations.

RESULTS

The students received eight patients per day on average during their last week of clerkship. On average, they had their own office during 64 % of their clerkship, but 19 % had their own office in less than a third of the time. The tutor observed 42 % of the students during more than six consultations in addition to the five compulsory ones, but 23 % of the students were only observed during the five compulsory sessions. The students were generally content with the feedback from their tutor, but 20 % gave critical answers. The students recorded 167 different diagnoses from all the chapters in the International Classification of Primary Care.

INTERPRETATION

The clerkship is well organized for learning medicine in general practice. There is a potential for quality improvement and this article presents suggestions from educational literature.