How competent do general practice residents feel and why?

Background: General practice residency aims to produce competent general practitioners (GPs) who will practice independently, i.e. who demonstrate adequate levels of actual and self-perceived competence.

Purposes: To measure self-perceived competence in GP residents at our institution and explore potential determinants.

Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of our GP residents. Self-perceived competence was measured in four domains. Independent variables included gender, postgraduate year, patient contacts, on-call duties, practice of specific tasks, self-assessed effort and knowledge.

Results: Between 1.6 and 37.8% of GP residents assessed their competence as less than average. Self-perceived competence was not consistently linked to any of the hypothesised factors.

Conclusions: A significant proportion of residents reported less than satisfactory levels of self-perceived competence. Longitudinal studies should be conducted as well as qualitative studies focusing on the role of other factors in the development of high levels of self-perceived competence during general practice training.