Residents' perception of their skill levels in the clinical management of adolescent health problems

Residents in six specialty training programs completed a 126-item questionnaire designed to assess their skill or confidence to manage adolescent health issues. The residency programs studied were family practice, internal medicine, pediatrics, emergency medicine, obstetrics/ gynecology, and combined medicine/pediatrics. Although almost three-fourths of the residents were at least moderately interested in adolescent health care and 90% expected to care for adolescents, only 26% believed an adolescent rotation should be required during training. Residents generally considered themselves unskilled to manage adolescents in the areas of sexuality, handicapping conditions, and psychosocial problems. Significant differences in perceived skills were found among the specialty programs on 45% of the items presented. Resident training appears to be needed in the areas of adolescent growth and development, counseling, and sexuality.