Secondary care doctors denigrate general practice in front of medical students, study finds

Placements in secondary care expose medical students to negativity about general practice, researchers have found.

A report by the Royal College of General Practitioners and the Medical Schools Council said that better collaboration was needed across primary and secondary care to stop students being put off becoming GPs.1

The report was based on research conducted by Shift Learning, a market research agency, which sent an online survey to UK medical students through deans, heads of schools, and education leads. The survey received responses from 3680 students in 30 UK medical schools, representing 9.4% of the total medical student population.

It found that 70% of medical students had come across negativity towards general practice in clinical settings. Nearly four fifths (79%) said …