Effects of residency training in family medicine v. internship training on professional attitudes and practice patterns

Abstract

Objectives: To determine whether the professional attitudes and practice patterns of physicians with residency training in family medicine differ from those of generalists with internship training.

Design: Mail survey conducted in 1985-86.

Setting: Province of Quebec.

Participants: A stratified random sample of French-speaking family and general practitioners who graduated after 1972 (325 physicians with residency training and 304 with internship training) (response rate 82%).

Main results: Physicians with residency training were 3 years younger on average than those with internship training, were more likely to be female (38% v. 18%, p less than 0.001) and were more likely to work on a salaried basis in CLSCs (public community health centres) (36% v. 14%, p less than 0.001). Even after these confounding factors were controlled for, physicians with residency training seemed to be more sensitive to the psychosocial aspects of patient care and tended to attach more importance to informing patients about useful materials and resources concerning their health problems. They were not, however, more likely to value health counselling or integrate it in medical practice.

Conclusion: Our findings provide some evidence that the new requirement that physicians complete a residency in family medicine to obtain medical licensure in general practice in Quebec may foster a more patient-centred approach to health care.