Perceptions of family medicine in Canada through the eyes of learners

To examine the perceptions of family medicine (FM) residents about their chosen specialty and how they perceive that patients, other specialists, and the government value FM.

Self-report data from the Family Medicine Longitudinal Survey collected from 2014 (time 1 [T1]) to 2016 (time 2 [T2]).

Canada.

Family medicine residents from 16 out of the 17 FM residency programs.

Responses to statements in the survey were evaluated using a 5-point Likert scale (from strongly disagree to strongly agree). Data were analyzed in 2 ways: cross sectionally (participation in either T1 or T2), and longitudinally (participation in both T1 and T2).

For both the cross-sectional cohorts (T1, n = 916; T2, n = 785) and the repeated-measures cohort (n = 420), most residents responded positively to feeling proud of becoming a family physician, with little change from entrance to exit. For both cohorts, a higher proportion of residents at the end of training reported that other medical specialists value the contributions of family physicians (P < .001); however, fewer believed that the government perceived FM as essential to the health care system (P < .001).

Most participating Canadian FM residents feel proud to become family physicians. This feeling may come from the perceptions of others who are believed to value FM, including other specialists. Measuring attitudinal perceptions offers a window to discover how FM is viewed and can offer a way to measure the effect of strategies implemented to advance the discipline of FM.