Learning strategies for family medicine residents on clinical rotations

Abstract

Many clinical teachers who train general practice residents are specialists from other departments and are not fully familiar with the work of general practitioners. By socio-culturally adapting concepts from the Preceptor Education Project (PEP) developed over the past 25 years in the United States, this paper provides seven principles general practice residents can consider during rotations in other specialties. (1) Having clear learning objectives makes teaching and studying easier; (2) Teaching takes time, (3) Ask to be observed; (4) Teaching physicians should evaluate you; (5) Patients may resent meeting with a medical resident; (6) Make allies and treat them well; (7) Teach others. These principles can guide general practice residents to take responsibility for excellent training. Key words: General practice; Resident training; Clinical training; Learning principles