Attitude of general physicians toward ambulartory medicine education in health centers of Guilan university of medical universities

. One of the most important tasks of general physicians is the management of outpatients in health centers and clinics. Bedside teaching and ambulatory traiing are however, limited to hospital clinics in short courses without enough supervision. This study aimed to evaluate the attitude of general practitioners working in health centers of Guilan University of medical sciences toward ambulatory medicine training. Methods. The participants in this cross-sectional study were all general physicians (161 men and women) working in health centers in Gilan province. Data on sex, date of graduation, the university they graduated from, private practice and their attitude toward ambulatory medicine education were collected using questionnaires then the data were analyzed using SPSS 9.0. Results. The findings showed that 52.8% of the physicians under the study showed positive attitude toward ambulatory medicine training. The participants’ attitude was not related to the date of graduation, private practice and the university they graduated from. Most of the participants (86.3%) reported that training at university hospitals was not sufficient ambulatory medicine and more courses were needed to be offered in other centers e.g. in health centers. These results also showed that patients were better followed in health centers than university hospitals. Conclusion. This study indicated that ambulatory medicine has been neglected in teaching hospitals. Ambulatory medicine training should be regarded as an important part of medical education to improve medical teaching quality.