[Five-year experience with Train-the-Trainer courses for general practice trainers - a qualitative and quantitative...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• General Practice Training
• Professional Development

Background:

• A Train-The-Trainer (TTT) course was developed for general practice trainers in Baden-Württemberg.
• The course covered organizational, legal, and didactic skills over 9.5 teaching units.
• This article evaluates the TTT course and explores future developments for such programs in Germany.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the effectiveness and participant satisfaction of a TTT course for general practice trainers.
• To identify areas of success and suggest improvements for future TTT courses.
• To inform the development of ongoing professional development for general practice trainers.

Main Methods:

• An evaluation tool assessed participant satisfaction, relevance, engagement, and teaching quality.
• Data were collected from 256 trainers over five years, with 249 evaluation sheets analyzed.
• Descriptive analysis was used to interpret the collected data.

Main Results:

• A high response rate (97%) indicated strong participant engagement with the evaluation.
• Overall satisfaction with the course, organization, and teaching units was very high.
• Positive feedback focused on organizational/legal content and practical feedback training; suggestions included follow-up courses.

Conclusions:

• General practice trainers reported significant benefit from the TTT course content.
• The study recommends continued professional development and ongoing peer exchange for trainers.
• Future TTT courses should incorporate suggestions for deeper learning and continued education.