Rural general practitioner preceptors--how can effective undergraduate teaching be supported or improved?

General practitioners (GPs) as rural GP-Preceptors play an important role in medical student teaching within the Discipline of General Practice, University of Tasmania, Australia. As well a significant teaching role, they are responsible for apportioning 20% of the mark medical students receive in the General Practice examination at the end of the rotation. The contribution of the student-rural GP preceptor relationship to recruiting and retaining rural GPs has been acknowledged. Despite these important responsibilities, as honorary teaching staff rural GP preceptors receive no formal training in undergraduate education or assessment, nor did they receive formal peer support.

To address the lack of educational preparation of GP-preceptors, and in accordance with the stringent teaching and assessment standards of the Australian Medical School Accreditation, a tripartite approach was taken to educational skills development among rural GP-preceptors. The Discipline of General Practice conducted a needs-analysis of 64 rural GP-preceptors, and an evaluation by questionnaire of the teaching efficacy of those 64 rural GP-Preceptors and 76 urban GP-preceptors by 64 final-year medical students after their 3-week rural and urban GP attachments. The second intervention, based on the assessment and evaluation findings, was devised and implemented by the University Department of Rural Health. A series of workshops comprised the interdisciplinary educational and support program for GP preceptors, entitled Preceptor Onsite Preparation Program for Information Education and Support, or POPPIES.

The rural GP-preceptor needs analysis indicated that the majority of rural preceptors had no clear understanding of how what they taught fitted into the overall curriculum; they believed that their role as a clinical teacher had not been clearly defined by the program director; and also that undergraduate students had little understanding of what they needed to learn during their attachments. In contrast, preceptors believed they understood what students needed to learn; they were confident in performing the role of preceptor; and were familiar with adult learning principles, goal setting processes, effective student evaluation and the provision of appropriate performance feedback. Evaluation of feedback from students revealed that while rural GP preceptors performed well overall in regard to providing quality teaching and learning experiences, there was a significant spread of scores across all criteria, and approximately 15%-25% of students perceived various aspects of their attachment to be mediocre or poor.

The combined results of the medical student questionnaire and rural GP-preceptor survey indicated both a need and a desire for educational skills development among rural GP-preceptors. On this basis, the interdisciplinary educational and support program for GP-preceptors (POPPIES) was developed and implemented as a series of workshops throughout rural Tasmania. Although no objective data are yet available about teaching outcomes as a result of POPPIES workshops, preliminary responses from attendee GP preceptors indicated that the workshops were effective in addressing educational needs, and in providing rural clinical teachers with professional teaching development.