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An evaluation of a course for undergraduate teaching of general practice
Author(s) -
IRWIN W. G.,
BAMBER J. H.
Publication year - 1978
Publication title -
medical education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.776
H-Index - 138
eISSN - 1365-2923
pISSN - 0308-0110
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2923.1978.tb00319.x
Subject(s) - general practice , medical education , class (philosophy) , psychology , mathematics education , course (navigation) , teaching method , medicine , family medicine , computer science , engineering , artificial intelligence , aerospace engineering
Summary This paper presents an evaluation of the undergraduate fifth year course of teaching in general practice in the Queen's University, Belfast. Two Modified Essay Question papers were randomly selected from those used for some years past in the Department of General Practice, as learning aids and class tests. These were administered to twelve randomly selected groups of students before and after completion of a five week course of teaching. Results show that the composite mean MEQ scores doubled between pre‐ and post‐course tests. The correlation coefficients tabulated do not indicate that the marked improvement in mean scores before and after the course in general practice was influenced to any extent by knowledge acquired in other disciplines. The overall findings clearly establish the value of small group clinical teaching of general practice based on a problem orientated approach to learning. They suggest that the intellectual skills and attitudes required in the ‘holistic’ approach to problem solving in general practice may differ in some ways from the skills required in specialized areas of medicine. The evaluation justifies the time spent on clarifying the undergraduate educational objectives.