Family Physician’s Opinions and Recommendations on the Family Medicine Practices

Objectives: This study aims to evaluate the opinions and recommendations of family physicians working in family health centers regarding the practices of family medicine. Methods: This descriptive research was conducted with 307 family physicians working in family health centers of Elazığ and Muş provinces located in the east of Turkey between September and November 2021. The sample of this study was comprised of 193 (62.9%) family physicians who were available during the study period. The questionnaire created by the researcher was used to collect with the face-to-face interview technique and/or Google Forms data. Results: A total of 193 family physicians were included in the study. The mean age of the family physicians was 41.4±8.5 years, and their mean population was 3138.1±534.1 people. Of the family physicians, 184 (95.3%) stated professional devaluation, 179 (92.7%) excessive workload, the problems arising from the legislation, 173 (89.6%) performance, 158 (81.9%) the excess of the population to be served, 155 (80.3%) financial problems, coordination problems with senior management, 132 (68.4%) inadequate with the physical structure of the building and equipment, and 125 (64.8%) stated the insufficient number of non-physician personnel were among the factors negatively affecting work in family health centers. In addition, 180 (93.2%) family physicians stated that changes are needed in existing family medicine practices. Conclusion: According to the study results, there are negative situations that affect the effective and efficient implementation of family medicine practices. The current policy needs to be revised to carry out family medicine practices effectively and efficiently.