Benefits of simulated General Practice clinics in the preparation of medical students for primary healthcare

Lytton, Karryn, Woolley, Torres, Rasalam, Roy, Gorton, Susan, and Heggarty, Paula (2019) Benefits of simulated General Practice clinics in the preparation of medical students for primary healthcare. Education for Primary Care, 30 (5). pp. 275-281.

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Abstract

The James Cook University (JCU) medical school has a mission to produce doctors who are willing to work across northern Australia and may choose generalist rather than specialist careers. In addition to real-life placements in primary healthcare settings, the medical school has developed simulated General Practice (GP) clinics (simGPclinic) for Year 5 (Y5) students. This study compares the simGPclinic with actual GP placements for authenticity, teaching clinical skills, and preparation for real-life primary healthcare settings. Y5 students were administered a survey following their simGPclinic (n = 65; response rate = 97%). Students rated the simGPclinic’s authenticity as 77 out of 100, and were more likely to rate the simGPclinic as being ‘better’ than their real-life GP placement in teaching them to: ‘formulate a medical management plan and order correct pathology tests’; ‘rule out the “red flags” for the key clinical problem’; ‘undertake a patient-centred history and examination’; ‘make a differential diagnosis for the key clinical problem’; and, ‘develop communications skills’. The simGPclinic provided medical students with authentic and positive learning experiences in primary healthcare that were at least as beneficial as those provided in real-life settings, as well as being more reliable and better structured.

Item ID: 59070
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1475-990X
Keywords: simulation; primary care; clinical skills; undergraduate; medical
Copyright Information: © 2019 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group
Date Deposited: 23 Aug 2019 06:22
FoR Codes: 42 HEALTH SCIENCES > 4203 Health services and systems > 420399 Health services and systems not elsewhere classified @ 100%
SEO Codes: 93 EDUCATION AND TRAINING > 9399 Other Education and Training > 939999 Education and Training not elsewhere classified @ 100%
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