Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-hc48f Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-24T03:09:19.308Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Is undergraduate medical education working for ENT surgery? A survey of UK medical school graduates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 July 2011

J Powell ,
F A H Cooles ,
S Carrie  and
V Paleri
J Powell*
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Newcastle upon Tyne University Hospitals, UK
F A H Cooles
Affiliation:
Institute of Cellular Medicine, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK
S Carrie
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Newcastle upon Tyne University Hospitals, UK
V Paleri
Affiliation:
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Newcastle upon Tyne University Hospitals, UK
*
Address for correspondence: Mr J Powell, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Freeman Hospital, Freeman Road, High Heaton, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE7 7DN, UK Fax: +44 (0)191 223 1246 E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Background:

Despite the patient numbers and scope of ENT surgery, it is under-represented in most undergraduate medical curricula.

Method:

An online questionnaire was e-mailed, at National Health Service trust level, to 3544 newly qualified doctors from 30 UK medical schools. Undergraduate ENT exposure, confidence and educational value were measured on a Likert scale.

Results:

We received 444 eligible responses. The mean undergraduate ENT exposure was 3.4 days of pre-clinical teaching plus 5.0 days of ENT departmental experience. However, 15.8 per cent of respondents reported no formal departmental ENT experience, and 65.8 per cent would have liked further undergraduate experience. Teaching modalities with a lower perceived educational value were generally offered more frequently than those with a higher perceived educational value. Graduates felt significantly less confident with ENT history-taking, examination and management, compared with their cardiology clinical competencies (p < 0.001).

Conclusion:

These results highlight the lack of UK ENT undergraduate education, and the significant effect this has on junior doctors’ clinical confidence. In addition, commonly used teaching methods may not be optimally effective.

Keywords

Education, Medical, UndergraduateMethodology, SurveyGreat BritainOtorhinolaryngology
Type
Main Articles
Information
The Journal of Laryngology & Otology , Volume 125 , Issue 9 , September 2011 , pp. 896 - 905
Copyright
Copyright © JLO (1984) Limited 2011

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

1Fisher, E, Pfleiderer, A. Is undergraduate otoscopy teaching adequate? An audit of clinical teaching. J R Soc Med 1992;85:23–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
2Doshi, J, Carrie, S. A survey of undergraduate otolaryngology experience at Newcastle University Medical School. J Laryngol Otol 2006;120:770–3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3Mace, AD, Narula, AA. Survey of current undergraduate otolaryngology training in the United Kingdom. J Laryngol Otol 2004;118:217–20CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
4Chawdhary, G, Ho, EC, Minhas, SS. Undergraduate ENT education: what students want. Clin Otolaryngol 2009;34:577–88CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
5Department of Health. Medical and Dental Workforce Census. London: Department of Health, 2009Google Scholar
6Donnelly, MJ, Quraishi, MS, McShane, DP. ENT and general practice: a study of paediatric ENT problems seen in general practice and recommendations for general practitioner training in ENT in Ireland. Irish J Med Sci 1995;164:209–11CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
7Griffiths, E. Incidence of ENT problems in general practice. J R Soc Med 1979;72:740–2CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
8Access to care: ear, nose and throat and audiology services. In: http://www.audit-commission.gov.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/AuditCommissionReports/NationalStudies/AccessToCare [accessed 10 June 2010]Google Scholar
9Clamp, PJ, Gunasekaran, S, Pothier, DD, Saunders, MW. ENT in general practice: training, experience and referral rates. J Laryngol Otol 2007;121:580–3CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
10Sharma, A, Machen, K, Clarke, B, Howard, D. Is undergraduate otorhinolaryngology teaching relevant to junior doctors working in accident and emergency departments? J Laryngol Otol 2006;120:949–51CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
11Blanch-Hartigan, D. Medical students' self-assessment of performance: results from three meta-analyses. Patient Educ Couns. 2011;84:3–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
12Fitzgerald, JT, White, CB, Gruppen, LD. A longitudinal study of self-assessment accuracy. Med Educ 2003;37:645–9CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed