ACQUISITION OF BASIC CLINICAL SKILLS IN THE GENERAL-PRACTICE SETTING

Undergraduate medical education in the UK is changing due to both educ ational pressure (from the General Medical Council) and changes in the hospital service. As a result the role of general practice in providi ng core clinical experience is under debate. The purpose of this study was to determine the clinical contact available for junior clinical m edical clerks (third year) attached to five general practices. We repo rt here on the clinical experience recorded by students during 106 ses sions (74% of possible sessions). One hundred and one patients were se en, 54% females; ages ranging from 14 to 92. Four hundred and twenty-s ix symptoms were recorded; the largest category (36%) was CVS/respirat ory followed by neurological (20%). Shortness of breath was the common est single symptom (46% in the CVS/respiratory category). Three hundre d and seventy-one signs were recorded; 48% were in the CVS/respiratory category, 33% in the neurological category. Cardiac murmurs were the commonest single sign (34% of the CVS/respiratory category). Sixty-nin e separate comments were made by students about the range of clinical experience available; all were favourable. Forty-eight per cent of com ments highlighted the availability of patients with appropriate sympto ms and signs. This study has demonstrated that general practices can p rovide appropriate clinical exposure which complements hospital teachi ng for junior students.