Scottish general practice registrars--their views on psychotherapy training

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Psychiatry
• General Practice

Background:

• Psychological issues form a significant portion of general practice workload.
• Guidelines for psychotherapy training in general practice were established in 1993.
• The extent of adherence to these training guidelines is largely unknown.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess Scottish general practice registrars' perceptions of their psychotherapy training.
• To determine if the established training objectives for psychological care have been met.

Main Methods:

• An anonymous questionnaire was distributed to general practice registrars in Scotland.
• The survey achieved a 95% response rate.
• Data collected included demographics and attitudes towards psychotherapy training.

Main Results:

• Only 9% of registrars reported involvement in psychological treatment approaches.
• 51% felt their psychotherapy experience was inadequate, and 44% lacked confidence in patient assessment for psychotherapy.
• 88% of registrars believed additional psychotherapy training would be beneficial.

Conclusions:

• General practice registrars in Scotland largely perceive that current training objectives for psychotherapy skills have not been met.
• There is a clear need for enhanced psychotherapy training within general practice vocational programs.
• Improved training could enhance registrars' confidence and ability to utilize psychological approaches in patient care.