The reputation and professional identity of family medicine practice according to medical students: A Spanish case study

Abstract

Misconceptions about the practice of family medicine, created and reproduced in health care system and societal contexts, encourage the practice of specialized medicine. In addition, the academic environment appears to promote organ- and disease-based medical knowledge, which goes against the holistic and patient-centered approach characteristic of the practice of family medicine. In order to improve the reputation of family medicine and for it to be considered as an attractive career path by medical students, it is recommended that family medicine is developed as an academic medical field, and that improvements are made in the conditions and status of this medical practice within the health care system.

Acceptability of the Urban Family Medicine Project among Physicians: A Cross-Sectional Study of Medical Offices, Iran

“…Satisfaction with the training facilities increased the scope of practice and had an overall indirect positive effect on acceptability of the Family Medicine Project characteristics. This finding is in accordance with those of other studies (Fodeman et al, 2015;Hafferty, 2009;Lopez-Roing et al, 2010;Rajabi et al, 2011). A starting point is to emphasize primary care through medical education (Fodeman et al, 2015).…”

“…Family medicine should be developed as an academic field and its reputation should be enhanced. It is necessary to consider it an attractive career path by the medical community students, general physicians, and specialists (Lopez-Roing et al, 2010). Development of a professional identity begins in medical universities and institutions of higher education where the norms, values and professional readiness are internalized.…”

Medical students’ perceptions and attitudes about family practice: a qualitative research synthesis

“…Three studies were from the UK, two from Australia, and one each from Canada, USA, Japan, Malaysia and Spain. Four studies explored views and perceptions of medical students about family medicine [17,20,22,23]. Another four investigated the factors influencing a career choice on family medicine [18-22].…”

“…The participants of all the studies were medical students and only six studies included final year university students [17,21-25] and three studies included both, first and final years students [16,18,20]. One study also included junior doctors, general practice registrars and general physicians [19].…”

“…The number of participants ranged from 11 to 81 medical students. Five studies used focus groups [16,20-25], three used semi-structured interviews [17,19,24], one used both, focus groups and individual interviews [18] while another one used nominal groups and semi-structured interviews [22]. Two other studies also used questionnaires or surveys [21,25] (Table 1).…”