Comparing general practice and hospital rotations

The Prevocational General Practice Placement programme (PGPPP) aims to provide junior doctors with professional, well-supervised, educational rotations in general practice. There is a paucity of literature evaluating the educational effectiveness of the PGPPP. This study aims to compare general practice rotations with hospital rotations, with respect to teaching and support, acquisition of skills and knowledge, and role autonomy.

All junior doctors who participated in a PGPPP rotation were invited to complete a voluntary anonymous online survey using the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) inventory. The PHEEM presents Likert scales grouped into four subscales for participants to rate statements about their rotations. Surveys were completed at the end of the year in which doctors undertook a PGPPP rotation, and covered all rotations. These survey findings were used to compare general practice and hospital rotations.

In all four subscales of teaching, clinical skills, social support and role autonomy, the general practice rotation performed as well as, or better than, hospital rotations in the areas of emergency, medicine, and surgery. General practice outperformed all other rotations in 15 out of 20 statements across all subscales.

This study demonstrates the educational value of a general practice placement in comparison with hospital placements. Expansion of the PGPPP should be considered to provide all junior doctors with the benefits of exposure to generalist skills in the community.