[Transmural teaching program from the family practice viewpoint].

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Evaluation of an experimental transmural teaching programme for postgraduate students following a general practitioners' course. DESIGN: Descriptive. SETTING: Institute for General Practice, University of Limburg, the Netherlands. METHOD: Experiences of 100 students who followed a patient from referral in general practice to the hospital (and back) were evaluated by means of a questionnaire. Questions concerned to what extent learning goals (insight into transferral from general practice to the hospital and the consequences for the patient) had been reached. RESULTS: The satisfaction of the students was moderately positive, but dependent on the briefing of the tutors and the exchange of experiences in the tutorial group. The information given by the general practitioner about the referral, the quality of the organisation in the hospital and the medical treatment received a positive judgment. The attention for the patient's views, and the quality of advice and information in the hospital were unsatisfactory in half of the referred cases, according to the student. Three quarters of the patients had a positive opinion regarding the referral in contrast to only half of the relatives. The pattern of the referred morbidity was comparable to the main health problems in general practice. CONCLUSION: The patient's view of his illness plays a central part in this transmural teaching programme. The results justify similar programmes in other disciplines.