Department of Family Medicine and Primary Care, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong.
BMC Med Educ. 2011 May 16;11:20. doi: 10.1186/1472-6920-11-20.
There are increasing expectations on primary care doctors to shoulder a bigger share of care for patients with common dermatological problems in the community. This study examined the learning outcomes of a short postgraduate course in dermatology for primary care doctors.
A self-reported questionnaire developed by the research team was sent to the Course graduates. A retrospective design was adopted to compare their clinical practice characteristics before and after the Course. Differences in the ratings were analysed using the nonparametric Wilcoxon signed rank test to evaluate the effectiveness of the Course in various aspects.
Sixty-nine graduates replied with a response rate of 42.9% (69/161). Most were confident of diagnosing (91.2%) and managing (88.4%) common dermatological problems after the Course, compared to 61.8% and 58.0% respectively before the Course. Most had also modified their approach and increased their attention to patients with dermatological problems. The number of patients with dermatological problems seen by the graduates per day showed significant increase after the Course, while the average percentage of referrals to dermatologists dropped from 31.9% to 23.5%. The proportion of graduates interested in following up patients with chronic dermatological problems increased from 60.3% to 77.9%.
Graduates of the Course reported improved confidence, attitudes and skills in treating common dermatological problems. They also reported to handle more patients with common dermatological problems in their practice and refer fewer patients.
人们对基层医生的期望越来越高，希望他们在社区中承担更多常见皮肤病患者的医疗服务。本研究考察了针对基层医生的短期皮肤科研究生课程的学习效果。
研究团队自行设计了一份调查问卷，发放给课程结业生。采用回顾性设计，对比他们在课程前后的临床实践特征。使用非参数 Wilcoxon 符号秩检验分析评分差异，以评估该课程在各个方面的有效性。
共有 69 名结业生回复，回复率为 42.9%（69/161）。与课程前相比，结业生们在课程后对常见皮肤病的诊断（91.2%）和治疗（88.4%）更有信心。他们还改变了对有皮肤病问题的患者的处理方式，并增加了对这些患者的关注度。结业生每天看诊的皮肤病患者数量在课程后显著增加，而转诊皮肤科医生的比例从 31.9%降至 23.5%。对随访慢性皮肤病患者感兴趣的结业生比例从 60.3%上升至 77.9%。
课程结业生报告称，他们在治疗常见皮肤病方面的信心、态度和技能有所提高。他们还报告称，在实践中处理更多的常见皮肤病患者，转诊的患者更少。
