Training in primary care
Primary care is an important learning environment. Students at KI encounter primary care in several programmes. Through clinical education (VFU) and work-integrated learning (VIL), students gain experience of patient consultations, teamwork and care delivered close to patients. Primary care thereby helps students develop both professional competence and an understanding of the different parts of healthcare.
Study programmes with activities in primary care
Several of KI’s first-cycle and second-cycle study programmes include training in primary care:
Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy programmes
Students complete clinical placements in outpatient care and other primary care settings.
Psychology programme
Primary care is an important part of the programme through encounters with patients and services in first-line care.
Nursing programme
The programme includes components in primary care, home healthcare and clinical placements. Supplementary programmes for people with a foreign degree also include parts of the training based in primary care.
Specialist Nursing programmes
Primary care is included in specialisations such as district nursing, specialist nursing in child and adolescent healthcare, and care of older people. Clinical placements are an important part of the programmes.
Medical programme
Primary care and general practice are integrated throughout the six-year medical programme. Students encounter primary care from the first semester of the programme to the final clinical training before their licence to practise.
Development of education in primary care
KI and Region Stockholm are carrying out joint initiatives to develop education in primary care and strengthen the conditions for student learning. The work includes both the development of new teaching methods and professional development for supervisors.
Better support for encounters with patients with mental ill health
Mental ill health is a common reason for contacting primary care. A large proportion of patients seek care for problems such as depression, anxiety, stress-related ill health or other psychosocial issues. To strengthen students’ clinical skills in encounters with these patients, KI and Region Stockholm have developed an educational framework for training in primary care.
The initiative is aimed primarily at medical students and seeks to provide better conditions for assessing, understanding and managing mental ill health in primary care. The format is based on active learning and includes educational materials, films, supervisor support and structured components during clinical placements.
The educational framework has been tested at several primary care centres in Region Stockholm. Experience shows that students find the components relevant to their future professional practice and that the approaches strengthen both clinical learning and interprofessional collaboration.
The initiative has also contributed to increased collaboration between supervisors, psychologists and other professional groups in primary care.
The aim is for the programme to give future doctors better conditions for meeting patients with mental ill health and to contribute to good and appropriate care in primary care.
Would you like to know more about the project? Contact Erik Andersson, professor at the Department of Clinical Neuroscience.
Strengthened supervisor competence
Supervisors play a central role in students’ learning during clinical placements. To strengthen teaching competence in primary care, KI and Region Stockholm have carried out a targeted initiative in supervisor training.
Through the course Educational foundations for supervising clinical placements participants gain a basic understanding of supervision and learning in clinical practice. The course is based on a reflective and academic approach and provides support for planning, carrying out and developing the supervision of students.
The training has been carried out at the three university primary care centres in Stockholm County and has brought together participants from both university primary care centres and other primary care services. Participants particularly highlight the value of interprofessional learning, the opportunity to exchange experience and the course’s close connection to their day-to-day work as supervisors.
The initiative helps to strengthen the quality of clinical placements and create good conditions for student learning in primary care.