Revealing the reality of undergraduate GP teaching in UK medical curricula: a cross-sectional questionnaire study

Time in general practice offers medical students opportunities to learn a breadth of clinical knowledge and skills relevant to their future clinical practice. Undergraduate experiences shape career decisions and current recommendations are that 25% of undergraduate curriculum time should be focused on general practice. However, previous work demonstrated that GP teaching had plateaued or reduced in UK medical schools. Therefore, an up-to-date description of undergraduate GP teaching is timely.

To describe the current picture of UK undergraduate GP teaching, including the amount of time and resources allocated to GP teaching.

A cross-sectional questionnaire study across 36 UK medical schools.

The questionnaire was designed based on a previous survey performed in 2011-2013, with additional questions on human and financial support allocated to GP teaching. The questionnaire was piloted and revised prior to distribution to leads of undergraduate GP teaching in UK medical schools.

The questionnaire response rate was 100%. GP teaching constituted an average of 9.2% of medical curricula; this was lower than previous figures, though the actual number of GP sessions has remained static. The majority (n = 23) describe plans to increase GP teaching in their local curricula over the next 5 years. UK-wide average payment was 55.60 GBP/student/session of in-practice teaching, falling well below estimated costs to practices. Allocation of human resources was varied.

Undergraduate GP teaching provision has plateaued since 2000 and falls short of national recommendations. Chronic underinvestment in GP teaching persists at a time when teaching is expected to increase. Both aspects need to be addressed to facilitate high-quality undergraduate GP teaching and promotion of the expert medical generalist role.