Purpose This study examined the current status, perceptions, and educational needs of primary care education in medical and nursing schools to provide foundational data that can inform effective curriculum development.
Methods In total, 40 medical and 64 nursing schools were eligible for this study. Data were collected through an online survey using Google Forms, developed by the research team, from November 2024 to January 2025. Frequency analysis and independent t-tests were performed to compare perceptions on primary care education between the two schools types. Borich Needs Assessment and Locus-for-Focus model were used to identify and prioritize educational needs.
Results Responses from 21 medical and 24 nursing schools were analyzed. All medical schools primarily offered education in primary care clinics (100%), whereas most nursing schools offered it in community healthcare institutions (87.5%). Visits and observations were the most common educational methods (>80%). Reports, presentations, and discussions were the most used assessment methods (>60%). Multidisciplinary team-based practicums were limited in both medical (9.5%) and nursing (25.0%) schools. Both groups rated the need to expand primary care education and multidisciplinary team approach highly (>4.4/5). “Longitudinality” and “generalism” were educational priority needs across both groups, whereas other elements showed variations.
Conclusion This study identified the shared and distinct aspects of primary care education across schools. The findings highlight the importance of enhancing and tailoring primary care education to each school’s specific context and needs, while fostering interprofessional collaboration to strengthen community-based healthcare.
Purpose This study aimed to identify core shared competencies required for effective physician–nurse collaboration in primary care.
Methods A three-round Delphi survey was conducted from November 2024 to February 2025 with 30 experts (12 physicians, 18 nurses), including family medicine professors, primary care physicians, nursing professors, and practicing nurses. Experts evaluated the importance and roles of interprofessional team approaches using online questionnaires. Quantitative analyses included mean, standard deviation, and content validity ratio (CVR).
Results The first round confirmed the necessity of interprofessional teamwork in cases such as chronic disease management, rehabilitation, elderly care, and mental health. Essential team members were physicians, nurses, and social workers, with additional professionals engaged as needed. Through iterative consensus, six shared competencies were derived: (1) patient-centered integrated care, (2) treatment plan development and implementation, (3) communication and collaboration, (4) professional development as a team member, (5) Evaluation and feedback on service outcomes, and (6) disease prevention and health promotion. All items met consensus criteria (CVR ≥0.34).
Conclusion These findings clarify physician-nurse shared competencies in primary care and provide a foundation for developing competency-based interprofessional curricula and training programs to enhance collaborative care quality and patient outcomes.
Purpose Medical students’ values figure prominently in their choice of medical specialty; yet, little research has been performed on this topic. The purpose of this study was to analyze the differences in values according to medical students' individual characteristics (medical educational system, gender, and grade) and preferred medical specialty. Methods: A total of 905 medical students participated in the study; 426 were graduate-entry medical students (GEMS), and 479 were undergraduate medical students (UMS). Further, 561 were male and 316 were female; 356 were in year 1, 219 were in year 2, 230 were in year 3, and 100 were in year 4. Students completed the Physician Values in Practice Scale (PVIPS). The PVIPS comprises six dimensions: autonomy, management, prestige, service, lifestyle, and scholarly pursuits. The data were analyzed by t-test and analysis of variance. Results: GEMS had higher scores for service, management, and scholarly pursuits than UMS. Males had higher scores for prestige, lifestyle, and management, whereas female scored higher on service and scholarly pursuits. Higher grade was associated with increased scores for prestige, lifestyle, and management. The differences in lifestyle and scholarly pursuits were significant between preferred specialties. Students in support specialties scored significantly higher on lifestyle. With regard to scholarly pursuits, basic science specialties scored significantly higher than other specialties. Conclusion: There were significant differences in PVIPS according to individual characteristics and preferred medical specialty. This result could be useful in developing a medical specialty choice program for medical students.
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Methods A draft version of the scale was developed on the basis of open-ended questionnaires from 97 medical students. The validity of the content of this scale was evaluated by three medical educationists. The scale was administered to 435 third and fourth grade medical students as the main survey. For our data, we performed an exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis. We used Cronbach α index to determine internal consistency.
Results Six factors with 40 items were extracted through the exploratory factor analysis: academic stress (9 items); clerkship stress (11 items); interpersonal stress (7 items); career stress (8 items); health-related stress (3 items); and financial stress (2 items). These factors showed a statistically significant correlation. The confirmatory factor analysis demonstrated a favorable RMSEA (0.053) and reasonable fit (CFI=0.847, TLI=0.833). Cronbach α values of the six factors ranged from 0.63 to 0.85.
Conclusion The medical student stress scale had a good model fit. It is a valid and reliable instrument in identifying stress in medical students and can be used in future studies. Also, the scale is expected to provide individual stress profiles for students to help them manage stress more effectively.
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PURPOSE This study was designed to identify current status of the subspecialist training programs and related factors affecting subspecialists' job selection.
METHODS The study subjects were 5,569 subspecialist trainees in 61 hospitals between 1989 and 1999. Among them, 1,260 subjects were selected to identify employment status after training. Also we analysed factors affecting career selection for 863 subspecialists on which basic information was available.
RESULTS About 26.6% of all subspecialist trainees trained in 1999 was for subspecialties in internal medicine, the largest majority, and 89.3% was in metropolitan areas. Also 91.1% were trained in teaching hospitals. Among subspecialists completed training, 79.5% selected career to work at general or teaching hospitals as of 1999, but 13.5% practised at clinics. The factors affecting career selection after training were gender, ownership of medical school, and specialty.
CONCLUSION The fact that not a few subspecialists work at primary care clinics means there are unreasonable human resource allocation and planning, with probable poor quality of primary care. Therefore, it is necessary to have a human resource plan at the national level for appropriate number of subspecialists, based on each specialty, in particular.
Any structural factors affecting destination of subspecialist trainees, such as gender and graduated medical school, etc, should be dealt with in the long run.