BACKGROUND. Departments of general practice increasingly provide formal teaching in audit. However, little is known about audit projects carried out by trainees in general practice. AIM. A study was undertaken to ascertain general practitioner trainees' experience of undertaking an audit project in the trainee year, with reference to their understanding of audit theory, perceived usefulness of the project in enhancing clinical knowledge, time taken to do the audit and practice team involvement in the project. METHOD. All 104 trainees in the west of Scotland region completing their trainee year on 31 July 1993 were sent a postal questionnaire that month. The replies to the questionnaire were analysed and compared with the audit project that each trainee had submitted in June 1993 as part of a pilot project for summative assessment. RESULTS. Responses were received from 103 trainees (99%). Seventy trainees (68%) felt strongly that their audit project was relevant to patient care but only 31 (30%) felt strongly that the project was a useful way of enhancing clinical knowledge of the disease process. Data collection was the most time consuming aspect of the audit project, 23% of trainees reporting taking a day or more to complete this stage. Trainees who chose their own audit project were more likely to complete two sets of data collection than those who had not chosen their own project. Seventy nine trainees (77%) indicated that trainers had been involved in their project and 51 trainees indicated that one of the other practice partners had been involved in their project. CONCLUSION. Performing an audit as a trainee is feasible in the time limit of the one year in general practice. The educational benefit appears to be limited to the knowledge of audit process, rather than to clinical knowledge. Audit projects of relevant size and complexity, involving appropriate members of the practice team, are to be encouraged, as is the development of an instrument for assessing trainee audit.
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