Rhetoric and reality: two perspectives on community trust involvement in undergraduate medical education

Abstract

The GMC report Tomorrow's Doctors recommended that medical teaching should reflect the shift in health care provision towards primary care. A project was initiated at King's College School of Medicine and Dentistry (merged in August 1998 with United Medical and Dental Schools of Guy's and St Thomas') in 1995 to extend existing general practicebased teaching into other primary care settings, particularly community trusts.To inform this project, two postal surveys were undertaken to assess the extent and content of current teaching by community trust staff, and attitudes towards such teaching. Questionnaires were analysed from 19 medical schools and 167 community trusts. Eighteen (94.7%) medical schools and 120 (71.9%) community trusts reported involvement in teaching by community trust staff.There were substantial differences between the information given by the two groups of respondents. Such discrepancies suggested that teaching was uncoordinated, although respondents were committed to developing the role of community trusts in teaching. Medical schools highlighted valuable learning experiences for students available in primary care, and community trusts emphasized the positive impact of teaching on their staff and status.