چکیده (انگلیسی):

Background:Switzerland is facing an impending primary care workforce crisis since almost half of all primary care
physicians are expected to retire in the next decade. Only a minority of medical students choose a primary care
specialty, further deepening the workforce shortage. It is therefore essential to identify ways to promote the choice
of a primary care career. The aim of the present study was to explore students’ views about the undergraduate
primary care teaching curriculum and different teaching formats, and to evaluate the possible impact of these
views on students’ perceptions of primary care.
Methods:We surveyed fifth year medical students from the Medical Faculties in Geneva and Lausanne, Switzerland
(n= 285) with a four sections electronic questionnaire. We carried out descriptive analyses presented as frequencies
for categorical data, and means and/or medians for continuous data.
Results:The response rate was 43 %. Overall, primary care teaching had a positive impact on students’ image of
primary care. In Lausanne, primary care curricular components were rated more positively than in Geneva. Curricular
components that were not part of the primary care teaching, but were nevertheless cited by some students, were
frequently perceived as having a negative impact.
Conclusions:The primary care curriculum at Lausanne and Geneva Universities positively influences students’
perceptions of this discipline. However, there are shortcomings in both the structure and the content of both the
primary care and hidden curriculum that may contribute to perpetuating a negative image of this specialization.