Views of primary health care trainees on their hospital training in internal medicine and pediatrics in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Objective: The aim of this study is to assess the perception and satisfaction of primary health care (PHC) trainees regarding their hospital training in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics. Methodology: A cross-sectional study was conducted by means of a self-administered questionnaire distributed to the trainees who had finished Medicine and/or Pediatrics rotation in 4 PHC training centers in Riyadh, Al-Khobar, Jeddah and Al-Medina during January 1996. Results: Trainees were more satisfied with the Pediatric rotation than the Internal Medicine rotation. Significant relationship (p<0.05) was found between trainee satisfaction in Internal Medicine rotation and both the quality of training and the relevance of training to the needs of PHC trainees. On the other hand, in Pediatrics, the only variable which was related significantly to the trainees' satisfaction was the duration of the rotation, which was found to be sufficient (p<0.05). Trainees' dissatisfaction with the rotation was due to many factors, such as the imbalance between service work and educational sessions and the lack of awareness of other specialists about PHC as a career. Conclusion: Attention and effort should be directed towards the improvement of hospital training through a close collaboration between the decision-makers for PHC training and the hospital consultants. Also the needs of trainees should be taken into account during planning of hospital training.