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Lookup NU author(s): Dr Steven Brown, Dr Charlotte RothwellORCiD, Dr Deepika Manoharan, Dr Bryan BurfordORCiD, Professor Gill VanceORCiD
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).
© The Author(s) 2025. Background: Patients with a chronic physical disease accompanied by other disease types or biopsychosocial factors– multiple long-term conditions (MLTC)– represent a major and growing clinical challenge. 17% of the population of England are forecast to fit this definition by 2035. The aim of this study was to understand and explore desirable MLTC-related learning outcomes identified by newly graduated doctors in the UK. Methods: Focus groups were conducted across sites at two NHS trusts in Northern England with doctors in their second postgraduate year (Foundation Year 2 (FY2)). An iterative thematic analysis was applied to transcripts to identify and organise key themes. Results: Twenty-six participants across three focus groups reported their experience in primary and secondary care placements. The two overarching themes identified were: 1) ‘Practice needs’ for managing patients with MLTC. 2) ‘Education needs’ including limitations in undergraduate curricula. FY2s emphasised the concepts of uncertainty and complexity in practice, the variability of undergraduate learning experiences and gaps left by single-disease models of learning. Senior clinicians were highlighted as being key sources of support who modify learning experiences. Conclusions: Newly qualified doctors find MLTC care challenging and feel ill-prepared to manage patients on entering the medical workforce. Suggested improvements for undergraduate curricula include enhancing interprofessional methods of learning and ensuring consistency of exposure to, and focus on, MLTC patient-related complexity across undergraduate placements and curricula. Trial registration: Clinical Trial Number: Not applicable.
Author(s): Brown STR, Rothwell C, Manoharan D, Burford B, Vance G
Publication type: Article
Publication status: Published
Journal: BMC Medical Education
Year: 2025
Volume: 25
Online publication date: 01/07/2025
Acceptance date: 04/06/2025
Date deposited: 21/07/2025
ISSN (electronic): 1472-6920
Publisher: BioMed Central Ltd
URL: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-025-07484-1
DOI: 10.1186/s12909-025-07484-1
Data Access Statement: The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are not publicly available due to their collection as audio recordings and verbatim transcripts which could be identifiable, but are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
PubMed id: 40596993
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