چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:General practitioners play an important role in the primary care of adolescents in both
community and clinical settings. Yet studies show that GPs can lack confidence, skills and knowledge in
adolescent health. This study evaluates the effectiveness of an innovative training intervention on medical
participants’ knowledge and confidence as adolescent health educators in a school setting.
Methods:15 general practitioners, 12 general practice registrars and 18 medical students participated in an
adolescent health education workshop followed by fieldexperience in health education sessions in secondary
schools. The mixed method design included a pre and post intervention survey and focus group interviews.
Results:Mean scores on the Confidence to Teach scale increased significantly (3.34 ± 0.51 to 4.09 ± 0.33) (p<.001)as
did confidence to communicate with adolescents (3.64 ± 0.48 to 4.19 ± 0.33) (p< .001). Mean knowledge scores
increased significantly (7.00 ± 1.22 to 8.98 ± 1.11) (p< .001). Participants highlighted the value of learning about
adolescent health issues and generic teaching skills especially lesson planning and design, practicing experiential
teaching strategies and finding the‘sweet spot’ when communicating with adolescents. Some participants reported
that these skills would transfer to the practice setting.
Conclusion:An applied training intervention that uses evidence-based, experiential teaching strategies and
focuses on developing knowledge and practical teaching skills appropriate for the health education of
adolescents can enhance knowledge and confidence to engage in community-based adolescent health
education.