REFERENCES 1.

Kiani Q, Umar S, Iqbal M. What do medical students expect in a teacher? Clin Teach 2014;11:203–208.

2.

Professional%20Standards%20reprint%202012.pdf. Accessed on 14 June 2014.

Academy of Medical Educators. Professional Standards. Available at http://www.medicaleducators.org/ aome/assets/File/AOME%20

Corresponding author’s contact details: Kieran Walsh, FRCPI, BMJ Learning, BMJ Group, BMA House, Tavistock Square, London, WC1H 9JR, UK. E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/tct.12283

What motivates general practitioners to teach? Kerry Boardman, Darshna Patel and Anne Stephenson, Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, King’s College London School of Medicine, London, UK

W

e thank Thomson et al. for publishing this insightful Australian study.1 We were drawn to it as, in the face of recruitment challenges, we conducted a similar survey of general practice teachers (GPTs) in October 2013, investigating key issues informing decisions of GPTs on whether or not to offer medical students placements in general practices.

130 responses, sufficient to reach saturation of qualitative data. Thematic analysis was carried out. Participation in the survey was anonymous and voluntary, and because the survey was carried out as part of routine course evaluation, the ethics department at King’s College London School of Medicine confirmed that no formal ethical approval was required.

Our findings reflect those of this study. A 15–question online survey was e–mailed to the 828 GPTs on our database at King’s College London, with free-text boxes asking what tutors enjoyed most about teaching, significant challenges to teaching in practice, how faculty staff best support teaching and suggestions for improving the teaching experience. We received

Like Thomson and her team, we found the most common reason for GPs to embrace teaching was the opportunity to reflect on practice, and to refresh their skills and knowledge. Helping students to develop and the opportunity to showcase general practice were also high on the list of stimulating factors, as found in the Australian study.

Similarly, UK-based GPTs felt time pressures, workload pressures, insufficient remuneration to provide cover for lost service provision and lack of teaching space to be the greatest challenges to teaching in practice. In addition to Thomson et al.’s suggestions to increase the recruitment and retention of GPTs, we have found at our institution that being flexible about how and where teaching happens, including some simulated sessions using sessional GPs, has aided recruitment. REFERENCE 1.

Thomson J, Haesler E, Anderson K, Barnard A. What motivates general practitioners to teach. Clin Teach 2014;11:124–130.

Corresponding author’s contact details: Kerry Boardman, King’s Undergraduate Medical Education in the Community Team Department of Primary Care and Public Health Sciences, Capital House, 4th Floor, 42 Weston Street, London, SE1 3QD, UK. E-mail: [email protected] doi: 10.1111/tct.12311

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