Survey on training for general practice backbone mentors in tertiary hospitals of Hebei province

Objective To survey on training for general practice backbone mentors in tertiary hospitals of Hebei province. Methods A questionnaire survey on training status was conducted among general practice backbone mentors in tertiary hospitals of Hebei Province. The survey items included the basic information, knowledge of general practice and its training, suggestions for mentors training and general practice discipline construction in tertiary hospitals. Results Total 208 questionnaires were distributed and 208 were retrieved with a recovery rate of 100%. Among 208 participants, all of them were over the age of 30; 202 (97.1%) had bachelor degree or above; 202 (97.1%) were attending doctors or above; 165 (79.3%) had worked for more than 10 years; 169 (81.3%) had no or little knowledge of general practice; 159 (76.4%)had not received general practice training before; 124 (59.6%) thought that general practitioners were not qualified as gatekeeper at present; and 192 (92.3%) worked in the hospitals providing standardized residency training. The training contents in general section were prioritized as clinical skills, community health service development and policy, rules for general practice standardized training, theoretical training, the present situation and countermeasure of general teaching, the doctor-patient relationship and medical ethics. The contents in training method section were prioritized as lecture series of clinical medicine, case discussion, seminar, distance education with classroom teaching. The suggestions for mentors training included: the exploration of standardized training model, perfecting continuing education system for general practice mentors, more attention to the training at community health service centers and the consummation of general practice system. The suggestions for general practice discipline construction were that more attentions should be paid by the government and the hospitals leaders, the general practice departments in tertiary hospitals should closely cooperate with community health service centers in training of qualified general practitioners. Conclusions The specialists in tertiary hospitals of Hebei province do not have enough knowledge about general practice and do not quite understand the necessity of establishment of general practice department, so the training for general practice mentors should be strengthened and improved. Properly policy and more social resources from the government and the hospitals leaders will be helpful for construction of general practice discipline in general hospital. Key words: Teacher training; Questionnaires; General practice