Medical students' perceptions of an undergraduate general practice preceptorship

A survey was undertaken to evaluate an undergraduate general practice preceptorship by means of an open-ended six-item questionnaire given to students at the end of their general practice attachment. The aim of the survey was to evaluate the preceptorship as a learning experience and to examine ways in which the preceptorship might be improved. Questionnaires from two medical student years (1985 and 1990) were examined retrospectively. Of 398 potential responders, 386 (97%) had completed questionnaires. Students expressed a very high level of satisfaction with the attachment and this was expressed most often in terms of the personal interest shown by the general practitioner, the variety of clinical problems encountered, and the experience gained in managing common clinical problems. Areas of the attachment which students felt could be improved were: involvement in the consultation, the time constraints on teaching and the teaching of practical skills. The paper discusses possible improvements which could be made to preceptorship programmes on the basis of these findings.