Prevention training and medical residency

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Preventive Medicine
• Health Services Research

Background:

• Medical residency training is crucial for developing essential clinical skills.
• Competence in preventive interventions is vital for patient outcomes.
• Current assessment of resident training in prevention is limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a questionnaire assessing resident training and competence in preventive skills.
• To compare perceived competence and training adequacy between primary care and categorical medicine residents.
• To identify gaps between the relevance of preventive interventions and residents' perceived competence.

Main Methods:

• A questionnaire was administered to 58 internal medicine and primary care residents at a university program.
• Residents rated training adequacy and perceived relevance of 20 U.S. Preventive Services Task Force interventions.
• Ratings were based on five-point Likert scales for skills and knowledge areas.

Main Results:

• Primary care residents reported significantly higher competence in 14 of 20 interventions compared to categorical medicine residents.
• Training adequacy for basic skills was rated higher by primary care residents.
• Both groups found interventions more relevant than their perceived competence, especially in skill/knowledge areas.

Conclusions:

• Primary care residents demonstrate superior competence in preventive interventions.
• A training gap exists, with residents valuing preventive skills more than their current perceived competence.
• The developed questionnaire can guide improvements in residency training for preventive medicine.