Evaluation of a community-oriented primary care workshop for family practice residents in Jerusalem.

Background: A workshop on community-oriented primary care (COPC) has been integrated into Hebrew University's family practice residency program for several years. The participants of the first three workshops did an evaluation to assess subsequent application of the COPC approach.

Methods: The main objectives of the 45-hour workshop are: a) to learn the principles and practice of COPC as illustrated by the Hadassah Community Health Center programs, and b) to learn skills required in the COPC programs' various stages of development. In the workshop, physicians are required to work in groups of 5-6 to carry out the planning of COPC programs, which will be implemented in their practices. A structured questionnaire was sent 2-4 years after workshop completion to each of the 45 physicians who participated in these workshops.

Results: Thirty-six of the 45 physicians responded to the questionnaire. Of the 36 respondents, 75% reported that the content of the workshop was relevant to their daily work. Eighty percent of the physicians who were involved in intervention programs reported that participation in the workshop improved their ability to plan community programs. Fifty-five percent of the respondents reported the application of elements learned in the workshop to their current work, mainly in the performance of three COPC functions: definition of the community, identification of health problems, and planning community health interventions. Few (28%) were involved in evaluation measurements.

Conclusions: A COPC workshop characterized by work groups of family physicians, epidemiological analysis of their practices' data, and the planning of a community program in their communities was positively evaluated according to the reported application of COPC functions by family physicians and residents in their daily work.