Practical tips to fostering positive perceptions of and interest in general practice across medical training phases - version 1 - OpenPeerReview

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Riley

A strong GP workforce underpins healthcare system functioning and population health, yet global shortages persist, intensified by pandemic conditions. The article proposes evidence-informed practical tips to foster positive perceptions of general practice and increase interest in and uptake of general practice specialisation across medical education phases. Tips target medical students, trainees, supervisors, program managers, and other educators, drawing on Australian interviews with GPs and education stakeholders and facilitated workshops.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages14

Reading Time35 min

AccessFree to download

Abstract

Background

Aim and Method

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PRACTICAL TIPS Practical tips to fostering positive perceptions of and interest in general practice across medical training phases [version 1; peer review: 1 approved, 2 approved with reservations] Faith Yong 1, Jordan Fox2, Priya Martin 1,3, Riitta Partanen4, Katharine Wallis5, Matthew McGrail 2 1 Rural Clinical School, The University of Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD, Australia 2 Rural Clinical School, The University of Queensland, Rockhampton, QLD, Australia 3University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, Queensland, Australia 4 Rural Clinical School, The University of Queensland, Hervey Bay, Queensland, Australia 5General Practice Clinical Unit, The University of Queensland, Herston, Queensland, Australia v1 First published: 05 Aug 2025, 15:42 [https://doi.org/10.12688/mep.20921.1](https://doi.org/10.12688/mep.20921.1) [Latest published:](Latest published: 05 Aug 2025)[ 05 Aug 2025](Latest published: 05 Aug 2025), 15:42 [https://doi.org/10.12688/mep.20921.1](https://doi.org/10.12688/mep.20921.1) Abstract Background Servicing increasing healthcare demands requires a sufficient supply of general practitioners (GPs) . However, heightened by pandemic conditions, critical and chronic shortages of GPs persist globally. In light of this, new and clear strategies for promoting increased general practice/family medicine specialisation across medical education targeting emerging medical graduates are urgently needed. Aim and Method This article aims to provide evidence-informed practical tips to foster positive perceptions of general practice and increase both interest in and uptake of general practice specialisation. These tips relate to training phases in medical school through to specialty training and are targeted at medical students, trainees, supervisors, program managers and other medical educators. They are drawn from a larger body of evidence produced by the authorship team as part of a funded project in Australia that included 25 interviews with GPs who attained their specialty fellowship between 2014-2023 and 17 key medical education stakeholders who participated in 4 facilitated workshops in late 2023. Conclusion Open Peer Review | Approval Status | | | | --- | --- | --- | | 1 | 2 | 3 | | version 1
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05 Aug 2025 | | | 1. Lynn McBain McBain , University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand 2. Marcelo Garcia Dieguez , Universidad Nacional del Sur, Bahía Blanca, Argentina 3. Esther de Groot, UMC Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands Rianne van Diepen, University of Utrecht Faculty of Medicine (Ringgold ID: 371125), Utrecht, Netherlands Antilles Heleen Brehler, University of Utrecht Faculty of Medicine (Ringgold ID: 371125), Utrecht, Netherlands Antilles Any reports and responses or comments on the article can be found at the end of the article. Through these tips, we provide a practical framework on how trainees, doctors and medical educators involved in training phases from medical school to specialty training can foster positive perceptions of and interest in general practice. These practical interventions target those from medical students, prevocational doctors and specialty registrars/residents (henceforth referred to as trainees), to their supervisors, program managers and other medical educators. These tips consider the importance of positive experiences (including language) around general practice specialisation to both encourage its uptake and to support long and successful careers in the specialty. Keywords Workforce, general practice, career decision-making, medical specialisation, medical educators Corresponding author: Matthew McGrail ([m.mcgrail@uq.edu.au](m.mcgrail@uq.edu.au)) Author roles: Yong F: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Formal Analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Project Administration, Visualization, Writing – Original Draft Preparation, Writing – Review & Editing; Fox J: Conceptualization, Data Curation, Writing – Ori

FAQs

Why is building interest in general practice specialisation urgent?

GP shortages persist globally and are heightened by pandemic conditions, creating an urgent need for clear strategies across medical education to increase general practice/family medicine specialisation.

What does the article provide for different medical training audiences?

It offers evidence-informed practical tips for medical students, trainees, supervisors, program managers, and other medical educators to foster positive perceptions and increase uptake of general practice specialisation.

How were the practical tips developed?

They were drawn from a larger evidence base from the authorship team, including interviews with GPs who achieved specialty fellowship between 2014–2023 and interviews/workshops involving education stakeholders in late 2023.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by Riley