CeMENT: a multidisciplinary teaching programme
Editor ± Wallace et al. have achieved much with CeMENT, a multidisciplinary teaching programme across the primary-secondary care divide, which delivers clinical methods teaching to a large student body in the three senior years of four independent medical schools. They have also successfully incorporated teacher training in their programme alongside structured formative and summative assessments of students. Moreover, they have demonstrated that teaching in primary care is more highly valued by students than that in secondary care and have discussed some of the tensions funding of such teaching creates. Nevertheless we would take issue with their claim that `until now there has been little attempt to develop the teaching of clinical method which accurately re ̄ects current clinical practice by providing students with integrated general practice and hospitalbased clinical attachments'. We would draw readers' attention to our earlier publications in Medical Education describing an integrated course in clinical methods taught jointly by general practice and hospital teachers at Leicester. This course included reliable assessments which were regarded as educationally useful by students and it was delivered by primary and secondary care teachers who had undergone a systematic and continuing programme of teacher training. We also quanti®ed the greater satisfaction of students with primary care teaching and speculated why this was so and how teaching hospital trusts could narrow the gap. We would encourage other schools to instigate such programmes.
CeMENT: evaluation of a regional development programme integrating hospital and general practice clinical teaching for medical undergraduates. The Community-Based Medical Education in North Thames.
OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility and effectiveness of shared hospital and general practice clinical teaching for medical undergraduates. DESIGN: A multifaceted approach employing quantitative and qualitative techniques. SETTING: All medical schools in North Thames Region. SUBJECTS: Students, GP tutors and hospital specialists. RESULTS: The model was successfully adopted in a broad range of clinical specialties in all of the participating medical schools, resulting in a doubling of the involvement of general practice in clinical teaching. Participating students provided an overwhelmingly positive evaluation of the attachments and there was a clear perception of benefit amongst the participating GPs. However, the views of the participating hospital clinicians were less positive and the true nature and extent of the educational impact proved difficult to assess. CONCLUSIONS: This model of collaborative clinical teaching between hospital and general practice can be implemented in accordance with the project's key aims, but the enthusiastic involvement of hospital clinicians may be difficult to secure.
Teaching the teachers at Leicester: the general practice approach.
This article describes a systematic induction programme devised for newly appointed lecturers in general practice. The programme aims to help them develop skills in both teaching and assessment and to encourage self-appraisal. The progress of participants is monitored by direct observation and video-recording with the regular provision of feedback a prominent characteristic. All the lecturers have found participation in the programme an effective way of developing their teaching capabilities.