Survey on the views of general practitioners on developing special interests in the context of county medical community / 中华全科医师杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective:To explore the views of general practitioners (GPs) on developing special interests in the context of the county medical community.Methods:A survey was conducted using self-designed questionnaire from November and December 2019, among 49 general practice residents trained in the First Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Meanwhile, structured interviews were undertaken with 14 general practice residents.Results:Forty-nine valid questionnaires were collected with a response rate of 100.0%. All participants were from the county medical community units. The survey showed that 91.8% (45/49) of respondents were willing to develop special interests and 79.6% (39/45) chose one subject, and the top three subjects were endocrinology, gastroenterology and cardiology. The structured interviews demonstrated that most participants did not understand meaning of general practitioners with special interests (GPwSIs) clearly and were unable to distinguish GPwSIs from specialists; they were confused about the status, training mode, and assessment standards of GPwSIs. The interviews also showed that the demand for developing special interests for them was derived from the needs of patients for diagnosis and treatment, the target population of health care services, peer advice and personal interests.Conclusions:Most general practice residents are willing to develop special interests, and internal medicine is the first choice; however, their understanding of the GPwSIs is insufficient. The survey suggests that the position, training model, assessment and certification of GPwSI need to be further clarified.