Evaluating The Impact Of An Uncertainty Management Training In General Practice Post-Graduate Students With A Specific Scale To Assess Levels Of Stress (Pru)

Context. Uncertainty is a widespread phenomenon among General Practitioners, and the (in)capacity of physicians to handle it significantly shapes their decision-making processes. In order to improve the GPs' ability to deal with it and thus improve the quality of medical care, some have proposed to design a specific training on uncertainty for medical students.Objectives. The main objective of this study consists in evaluating the impact of a specific training session on uncertainty on medical students. In this endeavor, it evaluates whether there are other potentially similar initiatives already existing in France, and it assesses the need for training on the topic.Method. We have conducted a randomized-controlled study on 78 students being trained to become GPs having who attended a training session on uncertainty. We have compared the PRU scores obtained by the group having attended the training session with the control group.Results. This study did not allow to detect a meaningful difference between the two groups. However, it has been possible to observe the trend of a diminution of scores in the main subscales of the PRU among trained individuals. The training session thus appears to have had a positive impact by improving the tolerance to uncertainty of future GPs. At the time of this study, there was no, except a very few exceptions, other training session on uncertainty dedicated to future GPs - while the majority of students expressed an interest for such a training. During the time of the study, all the university departments involved in the training of future GPs declared that they already had some teaching on this key issue.Conclusion. Developing training sessions on uncertainty in medicine faculties appears as an efficient means to help young GPs improve their tolerance to uncertainty, and hence improve medical care.