Attitudes of doctors toward community medicine: Differences between graduates from innovative and traditional medical schools

Background: As the importance of community medicine in undergraduate medical curricula is increasingly emphasized, it is important to measure the long‐term impact of these courses on graduates’ attitudes towards community medicine.

Purpose: To compare the attitudes of general practitioners from a community‐oriented medical school with those from a traditional undergraduate background.

Methods: We developed a valid and reliable 35 item questionnaire assessing six key areas of community medicine.

Results: We found general practitioners from the community‐oriented medical school had more positive attitudes towards community medicine overall, and towards holistic and collaborative care. General practitioners, who were younger and female, had more positive attitudes on some dimensions.

Conclusions: This study provides some evidence to support the notion that medical educators have the potential to reinforce, or shape, the attitudes that students bring to medical school.