[Representativeness of general practice university lecturers]

Area of Science:

• General Practice
• Medical Education
• Primary Care Research

Background:

• Developing primary care research requires understanding the characteristics of academic general practitioners.
• The Angers Faculty of Medicine sought to evaluate its university lecturers for research representativeness.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the representativeness of general practice university lecturers at the Angers Faculty of Medicine.
• To compare the sociodemographic and professional profiles of these lecturers to a regional general practitioner panel.

Main Methods:

• A declarative study using self-administered questionnaires distributed to 216 university lecturers.
• Questionnaire data compared to a 2007 regional panel of general practitioners using Chi-square tests.
• Analysis included sociodemographic data, professional organization, activities, and practice characteristics.

Main Results:

• 181 lecturers (65% male) participated, showing a higher proportion of women and underrepresentation in the 45-54 age group compared to the panel.
• Lecturers predominantly practiced in group settings and had shorter weekly working hours.
• No significant differences were found in practice location type or continuing medical education participation.

Conclusions:

• General practice university lecturers exhibit distinct characteristics compared to the broader general practitioner population.
• The network of university lecturers is suitable for developing research, provided these specificities are well-documented.
• Acknowledging these differences is key for the successful development of primary care research initiatives.