Evaluation of the opinions and knowledge level of 6th-grade students of Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University Faculty of Medicine about the family medicine practice in Turkey

Objectives: Family Medicine is an evidence- based specialty branch of medicine that requires core competence, special training and a research system. It usually focuses on primary health care. Primary health care has a critical role in healthcare system. Most of the primary health services have been provided by family physicians all over our country since 2010, with the changeover to the family physician-based health system. The best way to increase the quality of primary health service is to improve the education quality and motivation of the physicians. In our study, we aimed to search the knowledge level about family physician practice of 6th-year students-intern doctors- in Ankara Yıldırım Beyazıt University Faculty of Medicine and find out the importance of family physician practice in their career plans. Materials and Methods: Our study is planned as a cross-sectional study .The sample of the study is residents working in Family Medicine Clinics in Ankara Province. A questionnaire that has 42 questions that measure their knowledge level about the family physician system and question their career plans administrated to the participants. Data were analyzed via SPSS 23.0 program. Numeric data were analyzed as two separate groups with the student t-test. Multiple numeric data was analyzed with One Way Anova. Tukey test was used in post-hoc analysis.Chi-square test was used in the comparison of two independent data categories and p <0.05 value was accepted as statistical significance. Results: 206 intern doctors were included in the study. %48,5 (n=100) of the participants were men and %51,5 (n=106) were women. The median age of the participants was 24,48. %23,3(n=48) of the participants expressed they are interested in being a family physician after graduation; %53,9(n=111) expressed that they are not, %22.8(n=47) expressed they might be. The mean of accurately answered questions was 11,47 of 21 questions.It was found that interns who have plans about being a family physician have higher level of knowledge. Conclusion: As a result of our study, it is seen that Family Medicine has an important place in the career choices of intern doctors. Intern doctors should have a high level of knowledge about family medicine, considering the importance of primary health care services. That's why increasing their level of knowledge should be aimed. The Medical school education system should be revised the increase the interest in the primary health care system. The quality and quantity of Family Medicine training should be improved. Keywords: Family Medicine, intern, medical education, general practice