Does experience in general practice influence the clinical thinking of foundation trainees?

Abstract

WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN IN THIS AREA

•	There is much debate as to the role and relevance of time spent in the clinical setting to the learning and development of trainees.
•	There is a pressing need to refocus research to develop a more detailed understanding of the impact of spending time in practice, here general practice, on the development of clinical thinking skills.

WHAT THIS WORK ADDS

•	The aim of this small-scale exploratory study was to identify whether there was a significant change in the nature of foundation trainees' thinking about a clinical case scenario after a four-month attachment in general practice.
•	Through the innovative use of Mind Maps, data were collected and analysed to identify the areas of change and development.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH

•	This study has demonstrated changes in clinical thinking of trainees about a case when exposed to clinical experience in the primary care setting.
•	The work would benefit from wider testing in general practice and other specialties to explore the value of Mind Maps to learning.

Keywords:

• assessment
• clinical thinking
• formative development
• foundation trainees
• general practice
• learning
• professional judgement
• research methods
• values