ENT AND GENERAL-PRACTICE - A STUDY OF PEDIATRIC ENT PROBLEMS SEEN IN GENERAL-PRACTICE AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR GENERAL-PRACTITIONER TRAININGIN ENT IN IRELAND

a questionnaire survey of 225 general practitioners was carried out to establish the proportion of their workload formed by paediatric ENT p roblems. Approximately 50% of children seeking medical case from their general practitioners had problems in this area. Infections of the up per respiratory tract and associated organs were the most commonly dea lt with complaints. The monthly referral rate by GPs of paediatric pat ients in their practice to an ENT outpatient clinic was 4.3%, As ENT p roblems are seen so commonly in general practice it is important that teaching of otolaryngology at undergraduate and postgraduate levels is emphasised. We examined the present teaching structure of ENT in Iris h universities and established that the appointment of a professorial unit dramatically improved the extent of the undergraduate curriculum Nonspecialist postgraduate ENT exposure was found to be inadequate and a number of mechanisms to improve postgraduate ENT training for GPs a re suggested.