How do a doctor’s competencies develop during undergraduate medical education?

Introduction A medical doctor’s work requires a wide range of skills, knowledge and problem-solving abilities. Our aim was to study to what extent newly graduated doctors from the University of Helsinki felt their undergraduate medical education programme helped them to accumulate the competencies required in working life.

Methods The survey was conducted among physicians graduating in 2018 and 2019 from the University of Helsinki. Respondents evaluated how their competencies and skills developed in relation to the national learning outcomes during undergraduate medical education.

Results A total of 53 young doctors (22% of the target group) responded to the survey. The most significant areas requiring development were lack of feedback, lack of systematic assessment of competence development, and insufficient correspondence between taught content and the real life challenges encountered in a physician’s work.

Conclusions In several areas, competencies were not perceived to develop to the level defined by the national physician's learning outcomes. There is scope for improvement in the conformity of teaching with practical work, as well as in the systematic assessment of and regular feedback on clinical skills. Similar surveys and comparison of the results with the competence objectives and requirements of a medical doctor’s work are useful tools for the development of undergraduate medical education.

Pekka Vartiainen, Tomi Ylä-Soininmäki, Jussi Merenmies

Pekka Vartiainen

M.D., Ph.D. Student and doctor in specialist training

DSGElab, FIMM, University of Helsinki and HUS, New Children’s Hospital