Family medicine residency students' competence in treatment planning for core diseases in the national core curriculum.

Abstract

Purpose: It was aimed to determine the competencies of Family Medicine residency students regarding the treatment planning of diseases coded with diagnosis-treatment in the 'National Core Education Programme' (NCC) in Turkey. We aimed to identify areas where residents feel less competent, which can inform curriculum improvements to better address gaps in treatment planning skills for core diseases.

Methods: The study was conducted with Family Medicine residency students from one medical school selected from each geographical region of Turkey. Students were asked to assess themselves at the time of graduation from medical school and currently during their residency training, in terms of 'appropriate drug selection', 'prescribing', 'non-drug treatment planning' and 'processing treatment management and giving information' competencies for 59 diseases in the NCC.

Results: The rate of Family Medicine residency students who felt competent in treatment planning/management when they graduated from medical school was very low; although this rate increased to a certain extent with residency training, it could not reach an acceptable rate. Despite partial improvements after graduation, the results suggest potential gaps in achieving the desired competency levels, even after 1-3 year of residency training. The residency students' competency perceptions ranged from 10-30% to 60-80% across different diseases.

Conclusion: It is important to review and reconstruct the six-year medical education and Family Medicine residency training programs, based on the framework drawn by NCC, focusing on rational treatment planning/management to reconceptualize treatment planning/management and decision-making.