[Entry into general practice training: no relation with focus on primary care in the undergraduate curriculum]

To investigate differences between medical faculties in the proportion of graduates entering general practice (GP) training, and to analyse whether this is related to the degree of orientation towards general practice of Dutch medical undergraduate curricula.

Retrospective cohort study.

Several databases were used to investigate which percentage of medical graduates per faculty entered the GP training programme between 1989 and 2001. The coordinators of general practice education in the undergraduate curriculum of the eight Dutch faculties of medicine filled in a questionnaire about the degree of orientation toward general practice of their curriculum and the extent to which medical students came into contact with primary care.

The number of medical graduates per faculty in the period 1989-2001 varied between 1682 and 2443. On average, 23.5% of the students entered GP training. The medical faculties of Maastricht University, Radboud University Nijmegen and VU University Amsterdam showed the strongest orientation towards general practice. Leiden University, the University of Amsterdam and University of Groningen were the least oriented, and Utrecht University and Erasmus University Rotterdam were in between. There was no clear correlation between the orientation of the curriculum towards general practice and the percentage of medical graduates entering general practice training.

There were small differences between faculties in the proportion of graduates entering a GP training programme during a 10-year period. Although there were differences between curricula in the degree of orientation towards general practice, this had little effect on the number of medical graduates entering general practice training. Presumably, other factors such as personal preferences and the employment situation are more important.