Are Family Medicine trainees satisfied with their training program?

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the degree of satisfaction of General Practice (GP) trainees with their GP training program in the North of Portugal and to test the associations between satisfaction and variables related to the trainee, the tutor, and the GP training program. Study Design: Cross-sectional study, conducted between September 2011 and February 2013. Setting: The Family Medicine training program in the Northern region of Portugal. Participants: All trainees enrolled in the Family Medicine training program in the North of Portugal at the beginning of the study. Methods: Data were collected with an anonymous, voluntary questionnaire developed by the authors, sent by email to all trainees in the GP training program in North of Portugal (n=532). The characteristics of the population and their degree of satisfaction with training, measured on a five-point Likert scale, were assessed. Results: There were 189 trainees who responded to the questionnaire, giving a response rate of 36%. Most trainees were female (n=141, 75%) and most (n=160, 85%) were between 26 and 30 years of age. Trainees worked in family health units (n=148, 78%), and most were in their second year of training (n=64, 34%). General Practice was the first choice of 76% of trainees (n=143), with 97% (n=183) expres-sing no intention of repeating the exam that grants access to a medical specialization. Most GP trainees in northern Portugal are satisfied or very satisfied with their internship program (91%, n = 170), with only 4% (n=7) dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied. An association was found between satisfaction with the training program and "General Practice as the first choice of a specialty" (p=0.001), "The relationship with the mentor" (p=0.001), "The mentor’s training skills" (p=0.01), "The organization of the training program" (p=0.008), "The duration of the training program" (p=0.024), "The duration of mandatory hospital rotations" (p < 0.001), "The number GP training rotations" (p=0.015) and "The duration of GP training rotations" (p=0.045). There was an inverse relationship between satisfaction and "Time spent in non-cli-nical activities for curricular purposes" (p = 0.016). Conclusions: GP trainees are satisfied with their training program. The most significant associations are satisfaction with the relationship with trainers and the tutor’s training skills. Satisfaction with the duration of training, rotations in general practice and organization of the training were also associated with satisfaction. The relationship between overall satisfaction and satisfaction with the duration of mandatory hospital rotations is unclear. Trainees are dissatisfied with time spent in non-clinical activities for curricular purposes.