Debate on the training of pediatric residents: results of the survey on pediatricians, teaching collaborators in the Community of Madrid

Introduction: the board of directors of the Madrid Primary Care Paediatrics’ Association (AMPap) decided to conduct a survey to partner teachers of pediatric residents four and a half years after the joint resolution of the Ministries of Health and Consumer Affairs and Education and Science was published. In this resolution, the general requirements for accreditation of health centers linked to accredited training units for specialists in pediatrics were stablished.

Material and methods: in June 2011 a survey designed with Google docs was sent to the mailing list of our society, and directed to partners who were regulars in the teaching of pediatric residents. They answered 12 questions related to their workplace location, reference hospital, number of residents received, distribution, and turnover time.

Results: we obtained 47 answers and found that less than half of the pediatric residents do the mandatory rotation in primary care.

Conclusions: we have seen that, despite the fact that more than half of Madrid’s pediatricians develop their work in primary care and that the Specialty National Commission gives importance to this fact, hence considering a mandatory rotation of three months, only two out of five pediatric residents in our community met this requirement.

We arise the need that a pediatrician teaching collaborator or the Pediatricians Coordinators in care Management take part in the new Multiprofessional Units and that the pediatric teaching collaboration be valued in the curriculum and the profession.