Abstract

Validation of skill list for skillslab training based on responses from students and general practitioners

Author(s): rung Quang Tran, Albert Scherpbier, Jan van Dalen, Do Van Dung, Elaine Pamela Wright

Objective: To validate the list of priority basic skills to be trained in the skills lab of a medical school using practising general practitioners’ (GP) reported experience and students’ observation of GP’s practice

Method: A national list of 56 basic skills to be trained in skills labs had been formulated by an expert panel of faculty members from all the medical faculties / universities in the country with advice from Dutch experts in a Delphi process. It was then validated by checking against skills commonly used in practice through self-reporting by general practitioners and observation by final year medical students.

Results: The results revealed gaps between the skills on the list formulated by the university expert panel and the actual use of these skills by graduate doctors in their daily work. The gaps were related to specific skills as well as to the region and the practice setting. The results suggest that the tendency of GPs to focus on certain areas of medicine and not on others could account for their not using some of the skills that according to the expert panel should be offered for training of prospective general practitioners.