General practice in the curriculum in Slovenia

Specific education in primary care in Slovenia developed in 1966, when vocational training for general practitioners was introduced. However, general practice never gained academic acceptance and was not introduced as a separate subject at undergraduate level. With the reform of medical education in Slovenia starting in 1987, family medicine was finally introduced as a specific subject in the final year. The new curriculum introduced a strong emphasis on practice-based teaching and in 1995 the first university department of family medicine was formally established. This article reports the first evaluation of the programme, based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of questionnaires, from students and the general practitioners who were their tutors. The programme was very well accepted by the students, who enjoyed working independently in a friendly environment where their tutors were more facilitators than teachers. The main problem is recognition of tutors by the medical and educational establishment, which will motivate tutors to perform additional educational tasks in the future.