Medical Student and General Practitioner Perceptions of Challenges in General Practice in Ireland

In Ireland, there is a critical shortage in the supply of general practitioners that is projected to worsen. One possible response is to attempt to increase medical student interest in pursuing a career in general practice. Our study aimed to describe the challenges that medical students and general practitioners perceive in the field of general practice. A cross-sectional online survey of 96 medical students (10.5% response rate) enrolled at the National University of Ireland, Galway and 35 general practitioners (24.6% response rate) who attended the Vasco da Gama Movement (VdGM) Forum in February 2015. VdGM is the WONCA Europe Network for new and future general practitioner. The most commonly perceived challenges included remuneration, stress, access to imaging, respect from fellow medical professionals, treating the ageing population, and complexity of patients. These challenges were also generally rated as of high priority. There was large congruence between students and practitioners as to the challenges and what priority they represented. Of medical student participants, 18% indicated that general practice was their career of choice. Medical students and general practitioner have identified several challenges in the Irish general practice setting. Addressing these concerns is crucial to attract and retain future general practitioners.