The nature and prevalence of threats to medical student placement capacity in primary care: a survey of East of England GP practices

We published new research on threats to medical student teaching capacity. The findings have provided important new insights for the future of the NHS. This is the first study to demonstrate the scale of the space crisis in primary care and its impact on medical education. This study is already starting to be used by national policymakers, and has also been referenced in a national report on general practice infrastructure.

Extract from Abstract

Background GP practices deliver vital medical student teaching in the face of increasingly challenging circumstances.

Aim To understand the nature and scale of threats to medical student teaching capacity in primary care.

Design & setting An electronic survey of a predefined population of 120 East of England GP practices that host medical student placements.

Method The survey was completed on behalf of the practice by the GP lead for medical student teaching. They were asked to pick (from a list of 16) the four main challenges they faced delivering medical student teaching placements, then explain their selection and suggest solutions. Thematic analysis of free-text responses was undertaken from an activity theory perspective.

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