Education for Primary Care | 2019
Comment on “Is there a role for GPs in teaching neurology to medical students? A qualitative evaluation”
Abstract
Dear Editor, After reading the interesting and pertinent article ‘Is there a role for GPs in teaching neurology to medical students? A qualitative evaluation’ [1], we offer the perspective of third-year medical students on a graduate medicine course. Currently, our GP placements at Warwick Medical School include one day a week across 21 weeks in our second year, and a six-week placement in our thirdyear clinical rotations. In contrast to this, there is no specific neurology placement. Teaching on neurology topics is interspersed across other placements. Neurological examination is taught in the first year by doctors of several backgrounds, though mostly GPs. As students, we felt confident in the ability of our tutors to teach these skills as they followed a standardised structure provided by the university. Neurology is a topic that many medical students find daunting [2]. Whilst this article discusses medical education in the UK, studies in other countries have shown a similar neurophobia among students and junior doctors [3,4]. The requirement of neurological care and input in the UK is on the rise with our ageing population [5]. Building confidence in neurological history taking, examination and differential diagnosis is of paramount importance for the doctors of the future. The article highlights that the majority of neurology teaching for medical students takes place in hospitals despite the fact that most neurological disease is managed in the community. Furthermore, it states that a lack of confidence in the field of neurology is not only felt by medical students but also by the generalists who may be teaching them in these areas [1]. A recent article which discusses the effectiveness of shared learning experiences between qualified GPs and GP Specialist Trainees (GPST) gave an insightful view on how this combined teaching may help qualified GPs keep up to date on hospital medicine [6]. We have first-hand experience of being taught neurological examinations by GPs and, furthermore, being taught neurology history taking and examination in the community by GPSTs. We feel that a combined learning experience between qualified and trainee GPs would be beneficial to our learning. In addition to this, we feel that providing GPs with standardised examination proformas from the university helps them follow a structure when teaching medical students. Both these interventions would enhance the confidence of GPs in teaching neurology and provide the much-needed experience of community-based neurology care that medical students require to build confidence in diagnosing and managing these prevalent conditions.