Does focused and dedicated teaching improve the confidence of GP trainees to diagnose and manage common acute ENT pathologies in primary care?

Abstract

Background

General practitioners (GPs) are key members of the health care profession who are required to have a considerable breadth of knowledge to manage and treat patients effectively in the community. Their skills and experience varies depending on the medical school they attended and their foundation training and specialist GP training schemes. Exposure to ear, nose, and throat (ENT)-specific pathology is often insufficient due to the lack of formal otolaryngology rotations, minimal relevant teaching opportunities, and inconsistencies in curricula, despite ENT-related pathology presentations being one of the commonest consultations in primary care.

Methods

We undertook a learning needs assessment among Watford general practice vocational training scheme trainees to assess whether they lacked confidence in managing typical ENT pathology, as well as to ascertain whether they felt a formal and focused ENT teaching session would be beneficial to them.

Results

The results suggested they were interested in such a session, and therefore we organized a formal program on the assessment and management of acute and common ENT pathologies with a postteaching questionnaire to evaluate participant confidence in these domains. The results showed an improvement in participant knowledge and confidence regarding the assessment and management of ENT pathologies following the teaching session intervention. In addition, most attendees were overall very satisfied with the session.

Conclusion

This study highlights the need for teaching specifically tailored to the learning needs of general practice vocational training scheme trainees, particularly in niche specialties, in order to prepare them adequately for clinical practice in the community setting.

Keywords:

• medical education
• ENT surgery
• GP training
• training competence
• primary care
• GP education

Acknowledgments

The authors thank the staff, faculty, and trainees of the Watford general practice vocational training scheme who made this project possible through their invaluable assistance and participation. We also like to thank the clinicians and staff within the ENT Department at the Luton and Dunstable University Hospital for supporting and encouraging the authors.

Disclosure

The authors report no conflicts of interest in this work.