Do visits help improve the quality of teaching within undergraduate teaching practices?

The Academic Unit of Primary Care (AUPC) at the University of Leeds is responsible for the quality assurance of 79 teaching practices, who contribute 14% of the MBChB clinical placements. We wanted to analyse the effects of visiting undergraduate teaching practices as part of an approach to quality assurance. A survey of 79 practices in Yorkshire revealed a high level of tutor satisfaction with the process and 41% showed evidence of change following the visit. Some qualitative information was elicited from the survey and is used to illustrate examples of change. Our paper looks at the role of practice visits as part of a system of quality assurance and makes further recommendations to improve their focus and effectiveness. The paper is timely given the large increase in primary care placements and the recent discussions about the development of quality criteria for undergraduate medical teaching in the community.