Improvements on the general practice clinic reception table and the mentoring method as well as its effect on standardized training of general practice

Objective To observe the effect of an improved general practice clinic reception table and mentoring method on the mentoring effectiveness of the outpatient clinic resident physicians under the standardized training procedure. Methods The improvement on the reception table included tabletop lengthening by 60 cm and keyboard tray lengthening by 50 cm, which made it suitable for the resident physicians and the mentors to sit side by side while receiving patients. The computer monitors, keyboards, and mice could also be moved freely between the resident physicians and their mentors. Subsequently, 60 resident physicians in the second year of standardized training in the department of general practices of hospital to which the author is affiliated were selected and randomly divided into Group A and Group B, with 30 people in each group. Group A and B were respectively mentored with the improved mentoring method and the traditional mentoring method, respectively. Before and 1 month after outpatient clinic mentoring, the mentors in both groups were evaluated by 3 examination stations(the cases assigned differ from station to station) using the Mini-CEX scale. Finally, the resident physicians of the standardized training procedure and the mentors scored the satisfaction of two rounds of evaluations. Results After outpatient clinic mentoring, however, the Mini-CEX scores in both groups have improved significantly compared with that beforehand, showing statistically significant differences(all P<0.05). The resident physicians in Group A scored higher than those in Group B in terms of the medical interview skills, communication skills, organization/efficiency, and clinical comprehensive ability(all P<0.05). No statistically significant differences were found in the physical examination skills, humanistic quality/professionalism, or clinical judgment between both groups(all P>0.05). The level of satisfaction in both Mini-CEX evaluations between the resident physicians of the standardized training procedure and the mentors showed no statistically significant differences(all P>0.05). Conclusion The improvement on the clinic reception table and the mentoring method in the department of general practices is conducive to the skill development of the general practices resident physicians in the aspects of humanistic care, communication and expression, inquiry skills, medical record writing, and organizational efficiency. This proved that the improvements can achieve a better mentoring effect.