Table 1 Summary of search methods and PICO eligibility criteria used in the ‘case study’ systematic review of the effects of undergraduate medical education in UK general practice settings [14]

Search methods

• Electronic databases searched (from inception to March 2013): MEDLINE, Embase, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), PsycINFO, British Education Index (BEI), Education Resources Information Center (ERIC), and Australian Education Index (AEI).

• Journals searched by hand (from January 1990 to March 2013): Medical Education, Family Medicine, and British Journal of General Practice.

• Citation searches using references lists of eligible study reports identified using electronic and hand searches.

Eligibility criteria

• Population: undergraduate medical students in the UK.

• Intervention: medical education delivered in a general practice setting (via student placement).

• Comparator: medical education delivered in a hospital setting (via student placement).

• Outcomes: cognitive, behavioural, emotional change or learning, perceived benefits and dis-benefits, costs.

• Study designs: primary empirical research studies of any design, using quantitative and/or qualitative methods.

• Other: studies published since 1990 and reported in English language.