Medical student attitudes towards family medicine in Spain: a statewide analysis

Abstract

BackgroundFamily and community medicine (FM) became a recognized specialty in Spain in 1978; however, most medical schools in Spain still lack mandatory core courses in FM. In order to explore the perceptions, expectations and level of information amongst medical students in Spain in relation to FM and PC, and the training in these areas in the curriculum of the Medical Schools, a survey was developed to be administered in medical schools every two years. This article presents data from the first questionnaire administration.MethodsThe study population was all first-, third-, and fifth-year students (2009–2010) in 22 participating medical schools in Spain (of 27 total). The 83-item survey had three sections: personal data, FM training, professional practice expectations, and preferences). Chi-squared test or analyses of variance were used, as appropriate.ResultsWe had a 41.8% response rate (n = 5299/12924); 89.8% considered the social role of FM to be essential, while only 20% believed the specialty was well respected within the medical profession. The appeal of FM increased with years of study, independent of student characteristics or medical school attended. Among third and fifth-year students, 54.6% said their specialty preferences had changed during medical school; 73.6% felt that FM specialists should teach FM courses, and 83.3% thought that FM rotations in primary care centres were useful.ConclusionsStudents valued the social role of FM more highly than its scientific standing. The vast majority believe that FM training should be mandatory. Only 25% of first-year students have clear preferences for a specialization. Interest in FM increases moderately over their years of study. Working conditions in FM have decisive influence in choosing a specialty.

Final year medical students’ understanding of family medicine

“…Based on our analyses we could con rm the ndings from the research about medical students' attitudes toward FM, that students value the social role of family medicine and family doctors more than their scienti c value (21). We could add that students also recognise the importance of organisational and management skills of family doctors and recognise them as teachers in organisational and management skills.…”

Writing letters to patients as an educational tool for medical students

“…However, such change can be best accomplished by radical reform of graduate medical education, with emphasis on empathy and communication skills [18]. The reform can then bring about the development of different educational interventions for practical competencies, such as communication labs which help students to understand their future role as physicians and their relationship with patients, to develop self-confidence and prepare them for the first contact with patients [19,20]. The curricular reforms are directed to increasing practical work, problem solving, early contact with patients and greater bonding of students with their mentors [20,21].…”

At the coalface and the cutting edge: general practitioners’ accounts of the rewards of engaging with HIV medicine

“…Not only did many of the GPs we interviewed characterise HIV medicine as intrinsically interesting, they also viewed the ‘challenge and change’ involved in keeping up with scientific and clinical developments in this field as one of its major rewards. These accounts provide a counter perspective to the research literature which has consistently reported that medical students view general practice as offering insufficient ‘scientific-technical interest’ [63] or ‘intellectual content’ [71]. For example, a qualitative synthesis of the literature on choosing general practice reported a recurrent belief that general practice was less intellectually challenging than other areas of medicine, tending to treat only ‘common disease’ [67].…”