[Family medicine tutors: attitudes and activities of tutoring].

OBJECTIVE

To discover the attitude of tutors to tutoring and describe how they apply the teaching programme during the period interns spend at the Health Centre.

DESIGN

Crossover study. Stratified random sampling by Teaching Units.

SETTING

Primary Care Centres with teaching accreditation.

PARTICIPANTS

258 tutors from the state-wide Teaching Programme.

MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS

Tutors' attitudes and the activities undertaken with the interns were studied by means of a self-filled questionnaire. The attitudes scale revealed a good attitude toward tutoring. Above all ability to motivate (73%) was required of the good tutor. Shared quotas was the commonest model of tutoring (85%). Clinical care was the activity the tutors developed best (70%), with the doctor-patient relationship in second place (46%). The majority discussed the Clinical History with their intern (75%). Few supervised the carrying out of procedures (36%). 68% of interns performed at least one piece of research, although tutors thought they should do more investigative work (41%). During the three intern years, the relationship was hardly ever maintained (13%).

CONCLUSIONS

Tutors' attitude to tutoring is adequate. There is agreement with the basic features of the Programme, which is best developed in the area of care. The general model is that of a shared quota. Teaching must be improved in the non-care aspects, with specific training being made available to tutors.