Abstract
OBJECTIVE: To find the view of trainers (tutors and teaching assistants) of third-year family and community medicine (FCM) residents concerning their own teaching activity in areas such as training, the skills and qualities required to be a teacher and the inter-professional relationships that are current and that are needed in a primary care teaching team. DESIGN: Qualitative study developed between June 2000 and May 2002. Sample design with a volunteer population. SETTING: FCM teaching unit under the Primary Care Administration of Murcia. PARTICIPANTS AND/OR CONTEXTS: Tutors and teaching assistants in the FCM residents' programme. METHOD: Semi-structured interview for information gathering. Contents analysis to construct results on the basis of the semiological analysis of the textual discourse. Systematic return of the results. RESULTS: Belonging to the teaching team is the highest motivation for taking part in teaching. It gives the tutors more benefits (affective, care load) than difficulties (organisational adaptation). The tutor profile is sustained by his/her scientific-technical and personal qualities; that of the nurse, by his/her community qualities. Collaboration between nurse and tutor is informal and the teaching strategies most employed by tutors are guidance, guide-lines and encouragement of residents' autonomy. Nurses collaborate with teaching by transmitting a model of professional development and facilitating teamwork. CONCLUSIONS: The complexity of the training process stands out. Postgraduate FCM training is cross-professional, not exclusively circumscribed by the tutor-resident teaching relationship. The qualitative paradigm is shown to be useful for obtaining a vision of the teaching process from the perspective of different actors.