Patients' and tutors' evaluations of medicine students' consultations in general practice/family medicine in Coimbra

Abstract

Background: Undergraduate teaching of General Practice/Family Medicine (GP/FM) must ensure students acquire the necessary competencies and skills to perform an adequate GP/FM consultation with adequate annotations (the SOAP model) and classifications. So aimed to study and to correlate students’ evaluation by tutors and patients in specific consultations in the formal practical evaluation of GP/FM Curricular Unit of the Integrated Masters on Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Coimbra (IMM-FMUC) in the academic years of 2017–2018 and 2018–2019. Methods: Observational study of the 2017–2018 and 2018–2019 academic years of the assessment grids for tutor’s evaluation of SOAP performance and fluency in consultation and for patient’s evaluation of the student ‘performance, in the convenience sample of those who chose to be so evaluated. Results: We studied a population of 435 (67,7%) out of a universe of 646 students, 125 (28,7%) males, ns by sex and academic year who performed this evaluation. In a mark up to 20 from tutors, difference was found for Plan (P) mark, higher in 2018–2019 (18,38 ± 2,18vs18,54 ± 2,11, p = 0,005) of the SOAP methodology evaluation. Patients’ evaluation was not different 19,34 ± 1,70vs19,35 ± 1,40, p = 0,091. A positive significant correlation was found between tutors and patients marks (ρ = 0,278; p < 0,001), as well as between tutor mark and final mark (ρ = 0,958; p < 0,001) and patient and final marks (ρ = 0,465; p < 0,001). Final marks were not different in both years, 18,61 ± 1, 38vs18,78 ± 1,15, p = 0,158. Conclusions: This innovative model of evaluation of student’s performance in medical appointment, showed a significant positive moderate correlation between patients’ and tutors’ marks in the setting of GP/FM at the IMMFMUC, and was not different between years. Yearly evaluation must be continued.