LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study

Objectives This study investigates students’ adoption of LeiKA, a new extracurricular longitudinal general practice (GP) teaching project. LeiKA aims to attract a broad range of students, not only those who are already planning to become GPs. This study compares participants’ and non-participants’ c...

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Main Authors: Anne-Kathrin Geier, Christiane Saur, Stefan Lippmann, Melanie Nafziger, T Frese, Tobias Deutsch
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMJ Publishing Group 2019-10-01
Series:BMJ Open
Online Access:https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e032136.full
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author Anne-Kathrin Geier
Christiane Saur
Stefan Lippmann
Melanie Nafziger
T Frese
Tobias Deutsch
author_facet Anne-Kathrin Geier
Christiane Saur
Stefan Lippmann
Melanie Nafziger
T Frese
Tobias Deutsch
author_sort Anne-Kathrin Geier
collection DOAJ
description Objectives This study investigates students’ adoption of LeiKA, a new extracurricular longitudinal general practice (GP) teaching project. LeiKA aims to attract a broad range of students, not only those who are already planning to become GPs. This study compares participants’ and non-participants’ characteristics, career preferences and job-related value orientations to assess the programme’s initial potential to increase the number of students subsequently entering GP careers. Additionally, students’ motives for taking part in the programme were explored.Design We analysed administrative data and data from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey for the first three cohorts. LeiKA participants were compared with non-participants regarding baseline characteristics, career intentions and attitudes associated with GP careers. There was also a qualitative analysis of the reasons for taking part.Setting Faculty of Medicine, University of Leipzig, Germany.Participants First-semester medical students in the years 2016–2018.Results In the first 3 years, 86 of 90 LeiKA slots were taken, 9.0% (n=86/960) of those eligible to apply. LeiKA participants were a mean of 0.6 years older (LeiKA: 21.5 vs whole cohort: 20.9 years, p<0.001) and slightly more interested in long-term doctor–patient relationships (3.6 vs 3.3, scale from 1 ‘unimportant’ to 5 ‘very important’, p=0.018), but did not differ regarding other characteristics and attitudes. Although more participants definitely favoured a GP career (13.1% vs 4.9%, p=0.001), it was a possible option for most students in both groups (78.6% vs 74.0%). Early acquisition of skills and patient contact were the main motives for taking part, stated by 60.7% and 41.7% of the participants, respectively.Conclusions The extracurricular programme was taken up by a broad range of students, indicating its potential to attract more students to become GPs. The reasons for taking part that we identified may guide the planning of other similar projects.
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spelling doaj-art-69deab1a0f4f4a658075abce3d62ce7f2025-08-20T02:37:58ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552019-10-0191010.1136/bmjopen-2019-032136LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional studyAnne-Kathrin Geier0Christiane Saur1Stefan Lippmann2Melanie Nafziger3T Frese4Tobias Deutsch51 Department of General Practice, University of Leipzig, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, Germany2 Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Leipzig, Leipzig, Germany1 Department of General Practice, University of Leipzig, Faculty of Medicine, Leipzig, GermanyInstitute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Faculty of Medicine, Halle/Saale, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany3 Institute of General Practice and Family Medicine, Martin-Luther-University Halle-Wittenberg, Halle, Germany2 Institute of General Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of Leipzig, Leipzig, GermanyObjectives This study investigates students’ adoption of LeiKA, a new extracurricular longitudinal general practice (GP) teaching project. LeiKA aims to attract a broad range of students, not only those who are already planning to become GPs. This study compares participants’ and non-participants’ characteristics, career preferences and job-related value orientations to assess the programme’s initial potential to increase the number of students subsequently entering GP careers. Additionally, students’ motives for taking part in the programme were explored.Design We analysed administrative data and data from a cross-sectional questionnaire survey for the first three cohorts. LeiKA participants were compared with non-participants regarding baseline characteristics, career intentions and attitudes associated with GP careers. There was also a qualitative analysis of the reasons for taking part.Setting Faculty of Medicine, University of Leipzig, Germany.Participants First-semester medical students in the years 2016–2018.Results In the first 3 years, 86 of 90 LeiKA slots were taken, 9.0% (n=86/960) of those eligible to apply. LeiKA participants were a mean of 0.6 years older (LeiKA: 21.5 vs whole cohort: 20.9 years, p<0.001) and slightly more interested in long-term doctor–patient relationships (3.6 vs 3.3, scale from 1 ‘unimportant’ to 5 ‘very important’, p=0.018), but did not differ regarding other characteristics and attitudes. Although more participants definitely favoured a GP career (13.1% vs 4.9%, p=0.001), it was a possible option for most students in both groups (78.6% vs 74.0%). Early acquisition of skills and patient contact were the main motives for taking part, stated by 60.7% and 41.7% of the participants, respectively.Conclusions The extracurricular programme was taken up by a broad range of students, indicating its potential to attract more students to become GPs. The reasons for taking part that we identified may guide the planning of other similar projects.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e032136.full
spellingShingle Anne-Kathrin Geier
Christiane Saur
Stefan Lippmann
Melanie Nafziger
T Frese
Tobias Deutsch
LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study
BMJ Open
title LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study
title_full LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study
title_fullStr LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study
title_full_unstemmed LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study
title_short LeiKA: an optional German general practice teaching project for first-semester medical students: who is taking part and why? A cross-sectional study
title_sort leika an optional german general practice teaching project for first semester medical students who is taking part and why a cross sectional study
url https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/9/10/e032136.full
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