RESUMO
This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. Introduction Medical training should include a strong emphasis on primary health care. There is a need for primary care teaching centres and teachers who can provide excellent instruction in primary health care (PHC). Objectives This investigation explores the characteristics of the doctors who teach in PHC in Peru, their educational needs and their perceptions of their teaching. Method Using a mixed method approach we ran an online questionnaire on the educational needs and focus groups which explored the challenges, problems and skills required for teaching in PHC. Results 66 teachers from 10 regions answered the questionnaire: 59 (89.4%) were family doctors; 76,7% had a formal university contract; they dedicated an average of 12.9 hours/week to teaching and 9 (13,6%) had had some training in teaching during the last 5 years. In the focus groups they showed interest in developing their teaching skills and 4 dimensions were defined: willingness to teach; teaching family medicine; teacher-student relationships; the organization of the teaching. Conclusion The PHC teachers in Peru have great interest in teaching and a need for training in teaching skills.
RESUMO
With more emphasis on primary health care (PHC) both in the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum, there is an increasing demand for high quality teaching in PHC centres. Professionals in low- and middle-income countries often have little training in teaching. Countries where family medicine is more highly developed may play an important role in supporting training the trainers in low and mid development countries. However, the needs of these PHC teachers may differ. We explored the needs of professionals who teach in PHC in Chile through an online survey and focus groups.All the domains of competence of a clinical educator were considered to be important for training by >83% of the questionnaire respondents. Ninety percent of the respondents agreed that PHC professionals should be permitted to attend courses about teaching; 79% preferred blended learning: a combination of face-to-face training and online education.Three themes emerged in the focus groups. 1) The specific role of the teacher in PHC. 2) The challenges faced by teachers in PHC. 3) Intuitive teaching. This was an unexpected emergent theme that reflected the desire of the teachers to analyse and reflect on their teaching.There are enthusiastic and dedicated professionals in PHC in Chile with a strong felt-need for teacher training.