Are we preparing Victorian general practice registrars to be confident in all aspects of primary care paediatrics?

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

General practitioners provide essential primary care to paediatric patients. The aim of this study was to explore associations between prevocational paediatric experiences of general practice registrars and their confidence in providing paediatric care in the general practice setting.

METHOD

This was a cross-sectional observational study. Paediatric experiences and level of confidence ratings were collected using an online survey emailed to 530 Victorian general practice registrars in 2017; the response rate was 41% (217/530). Analysis used descriptive statistics, cross tabulation and Fishers' exact test.

RESULTS

The most common paediatric training was undertaken in a general hospital emergency department (180/197, 91%). The majority of registrars reported that they felt confident or very confident in managing acute presentations (92% for upper respiratory tract infection, 80% for asthma, 81% for immunisation), but fewer were confident in managing mental health, behavioural or developmental presentations (all <36%).

DISCUSSION

Registrars felt more confident managing acute presentations. However, the predominantly hospital-based prevocational paediatric training offers limited exposure to - and, thus, confidence in - managing behavioural, mental health and developmental issues. Training opportunities to address this identified gap should be explored.