Self-perception of the care and teaching work of family medicine mentors

Abstract

Objective. To determine the characteristics of Family Medicine mentors' care and teaching work. Design. Transversal, observational study. Setting. Teaching Health Centres in Valencia province, Spain. Participants. Ninety-one accredited mentors with third-year residents. Main Measurements. Self-administered questionnaire collecting general data of mentors, characteristics of their care work, organisation of consultations between mentor and residents, teaching dedication, satisfaction and motivation, and proposals for improvement. Results. Sixty-six per cent of the questionnaires sent out were analysed. Mentors had an average 7.1 years experience and 43.2 consultations/day. They devoted 4.4 hours a week solely to teaching, which 68.8% judged insufficient. 24% of mentors did a consultation at the same time as the resident. The satisfaction and motivation levels were high, with more advantages than disadvantages cited. Conclusions. On the whole, organisational strategies ensuring residents' autonomy were used. Mentors were satisfied and motivated, even though they thought the time devoted was insufficient.