OBJECTIVE
The present study reports the observations of an Australian medical student, his reflections on these observations and commentary from the Greek supervisor.
SETTING
One urban General Practice at the University Hospital in Heraklion, Crete and three community health centres in rural Crete.
MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES
Points of comparison were formed during the patient's consultations and clinical investigations.
RESULTS
Although the level of knowledge and GP's competence in Crete and New South Wales appear to be similar and there is an impression that the patient satisfaction in Greece is comparable to that in Australia, a striking feature in Greek primary care is the communication between practitioner and patient, as well as the poor level of note keeping. In contrast, Primary Care in Greece seems to be far more involved in research.
CONCLUSION
To attain a higher quality in primary care, leading to a better outcome for the people of Greece, the primary care physicians need more effective vocational training and the appropriate support from health authorities.
[1]
I. Okkes,et al.
Developing an Appropriate EPR System for the Greek Primary Care Setting
,
2003,
Journal of Medical Systems.
[2]
C. Lionis,et al.
Care preferences in a Cretan community with integrated hospital/general practice services
,
2001
.
[3]
G. Daskalopoulos,et al.
Urinary Incontinence, the Hidden Health Problem of Cretan Women: Report from a Primary Care Survey in Greece
,
2001,
Women & health.
[4]
H. Hearnshaw,et al.
Patients' priorities with respect to general practice care: an international comparison. European Task Force on Patient Evaluations of General Practice (EUROPEP).
,
1999,
Family practice.
[5]
C. Lionis,et al.
Managing Alzheimer's disease in primary care in Crete, Greece: room for improvement.
,
2001,
Quality management in health care.
[6]
C. Lionis,et al.
Background Paper: Health needs assessment in general practice: the Cretan approach
,
1999
.