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[General practitioner or specialist at home or abroad?]
H van den Bussche1, K Kromark, N Köhl-Hackert
1Institut für Allgemeinmedizin, Universitätsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf. bussche@uke.de
Gesundheitswesen (Bundesverband Der Arzte Des Offentlichen Gesundheitsdienstes (Germany))
|May 25, 2012
Summary
German medical graduates largely prefer specialist careers, contrasting with a high demand for general practitioners. Urgent measures are needed to boost primary care, especially in rural areas.
Area of Science:
- Medical Education
- Public Health
- Health Workforce Research
Background:
- Investigating career trajectories of medical graduates is crucial for health workforce planning.
- Understanding specialty preferences informs medical training and healthcare provision.
- Previous assumptions suggested a reluctance among young doctors to enter clinical medicine.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the career preferences of German medical graduates regarding discipline, location, and position post-residency.
- To examine career option variations based on gender and region of study (former West vs. East Germany).
Main Methods:
- A standardized postal survey was conducted in 2009 among final-year medical students across seven German universities.
- 2,107 individuals were contacted, with 1,012 (48% response rate) participating.
- Data collected covered postgraduate training intentions, preferred specialties, and practice settings.
Main Results:
- 96% of graduates intended to pursue postgraduate training in a medical discipline.
- 84% aimed for specialist careers, while only 7% preferred general practice and 7% general internal medicine.
- 28% intended to work in specialist practices, 10% in general practices, with only 20% of the latter targeting rural settings.
- Less than 10% planned to train or work abroad, with Switzerland being the most popular destination.
Conclusions:
- Medical graduates show a strong inclination towards specialist fields, contradicting theories of reluctance towards clinical medicine.
- A significant gap exists between the demand for general practitioners and the career intentions of new doctors.
- Enhancing the appeal of primary care, particularly in rural areas, requires immediate policy interventions.
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