Student perceptions of GP teachers' role in community-based undergraduate surgical education: a qualitative study

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate medical students' perceptions of a new community-based surgical module being delivered as part of a third-year clinical methods teaching (CMT) course at Imperial College, London. DESIGN: A qualitative study using focus group interviews with medical students who had recently completed the surgical module. Focus group discussions were recorded, transcribed and analysed to identify key categories that reflected the positive and negative aspects of the student's perspectives. SETTING: Imperial College, London PARTICIPANTS: Two groups of fourth-year medical students were invited to participate in the focus groups. The first group consisted of seven students from the surgery and Anaesthesia BSc course. The second group consisted of a random sample of five students from other BSc courses at Imperial College. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: These were not defined pre-study as the purpose of the study was to obtain student perceptions of the surgical module. Facilitators were given guide questions to aid consistency and prompted discussion where required using an inductive approach to the topics discussed by the students. RESULTS: Student opinions of surgical teaching delivered in the community compared favourably with the surgical teaching delivered in hospitals. Students identified the key benefits as: having protected time to learn, regular access to suitable patients, and teaching that was more learner-centred. Challenges identified by students included the GPs' lack of specialist knowledge and teaching that was dictated by individual interests rather than the syllabus. CONCLUSIONS: Community-based teaching has been widely used to deliver teaching traditionally taught in hospital settings. However, surgical skills are still taught largely by surgical specialists within hospitals. Our study suggests that students are receptive to GPs teaching surgical topics in the community and perceive GPs as competent teachers. This study suggests that there may be benefits in delivering traditional surgical modules in community settings. Providing training for teachers may be a key factor in ensuring quality of surgical teaching for all students.