engleski

Do Croatian students who want to work in family medicine differ from their peers who prefere clinical specialities?

Background Demand for family medicine practitioners as the base of primary health care in Croatia is distinct. According to relevant data around 60% of medical doctors work in hospitals, while 25% work as family practitioners. Our study objectives were to examine and identify factors influencing their decision to choose family medicine as a future profession. Methods Participants were six consecutive generations of final year students from the Zagreb University School of Medicine (academic years 2005/06 to 2011/12). The instrument was an anonymous questionnaire containing questions regarding (a) desired future specialization (b) motivation to enter medical school (c) opinion on the reputation of several medical specializations, (d) relevance of medical school curriculum subjects for future work in the healthcare sector and (e) students’ socio-demographic characteristics. Bivariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses were done to compare factors associated with wanting a specialty in family medicine compared to a clinical specialty. Results Out of 1180 final year medical student who answered the questionnaire, 916 (77, 6%) had indicated their specialty of choice and their results were taken for analysis. Regarding family medicine as a specialization of choice, 123 (13, 4%) students opted for it, with statistically significant gender distribution (16, 3% female and 8, 1%male students, p = 0, 001). Results to questions on the motivation to enter School of Medicine and importance of different subject in medical curriculum showed no statistically significant difference. The reputation ranking of the offered six specialists were exactly the same ; with the surgeon being the highest, general practitioner second to last and public health specialist the least prestigious specialty. Conclusions Research results have not demonstrated statistically significant differences between two groups of students. However, gender was the only significant factor influencing their career choice: more female students would like to work in family medicine. Reforms of the whole health sector are needed to empower family medicine as a discipline and encourage best students/ physicians to opt for this specialty. Key messages Only 13, 4% of medical students would like to work in primary care and a low proportion of students appreciate highly both family practitioner and public health professionals. Future medical doctors need to understand primary care needs and know its tasks.

Medical students ; education ; family medicine

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