Advice to future family physicians: findings from qualitative interviews with family medicine residents and early-career family physicians

TL;DR

This study explores advice from early-career family physicians and residents to new trainees, highlighting challenges and strategies in Canadian primary care.

Contribution

The paper provides novel insights into the practical and systemic challenges faced by family physicians and how they adapt.

Findings

Advice focused on understanding the current climate of family medicine, including specialization and burnout.

Early-career physicians emphasized practical aspects like practice logistics and job security.

Payment models and lack of support for comprehensive care were identified as key challenges.

Abstract

Canadians continue to report challenges accessing primary care. Practice choices made by primary care providers shape services available to Canadians. Although there is literature observing family medicine practice trends, there is less clarity on the reasoning underlying primary care providers’ practice intentions. Advice offered by residents and early-career family physicians may reveal challenges they have experienced, how they have adapted to them, and strategies for new residents. In this paper, we examine advice family medicine residents and early-career family physicians would give to new family medicine residents.

Sixty early-career family physicians and thirty residents were interviewed as part of a mixed-methods study of practice patterns of family medicine providers in Canada. During qualitative interviews, participants were asked, “what advice would you give [a new family medicine resident] about planning their career as a family physician?” We inductively analyzed responses to this question.

Advice consisted of understanding the current climate of family medicine (need for specialization, business management burden, physician burnout) and revealed reasons behind said challenges (lack of support for comprehensive clinic care, practical limitations of different practice models, and how payment models influence work-life balance). Subtheme analyses showed early-career family physicians being more vocal on understanding practical aspects of the field including practice logistics and achieving job security.

Most advice mirrored current changes and challenges as well as revealing strategies on how primary care providers are handling the realities of practicing family medicine. Multi-modal systemic interventions may be needed to support family physicians throughout the changing reality of family medicine and ensure family medicine is an appealing specialty.

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-024-05882-5.