[Physicians in training in general practice want mentors]

Abstract

Introduction: The new specialist training in family medicine in Denmark calls for increased educational time spent in general practice. The aim of this study was to describe the factors affecting the educational relationship between trainer and trainee, as seen from the perspective of the trainees.

Materials and methods: The participants in the study were seven of eight trainees recently given the position of specialist training for general practice in a Danish county. We conducted repeated focus group interviews and individual interviews over a period of nine months. Our method was based on principles of ethnographic interviews. The data were analysed in the style of Kirsti Malterud. An English model of mentoring was used to establish a theoretical perspective on the data.

Results: Essential to the educational relationship between trainee and trainer is that the trainee feel welcome and that the initial interview succeed. It is also essential that the tutor be readily available, but trainees have varying need for supervision, which must be conducted with regard to each trainee's learning style and clinical competency. It is also essential that a dialogue of equals be established. The trainee is in a learning situation and needs positive feedback. When the educational relationship does not succeed, it is often due to the trainers' and trainees' differing expectations of the relationship.

Discussion: In specialist training for family medicine, it is taken for granted that the trainer functions as a mentor. The tutor is supposed not only to supervise the trainee in clinical work but also to create a framework in which the trainee can reflect on his or her personal and professional life. Trainees want mentors, but such a relationship does not automatically succeed. Success in mentoring in general practice depends on trainers' perception of their role as tutors, as well as, perhaps, on Danish doctors' culturally instilled professional values.