Family and community medicine: The most chosen specialty in the MIR

• Published in: Atención primaria Vol. 56; no. 5; p. 102935
• Main Author: Vázquez-Díaz, José Ramón
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Spanish
• Published: Spain 01-05-2024
• Subjects: Formación especializada ;Planificación de necesidades; Education, Graduate Medical ;Needs assessment; Educación médica; Medicina familiar y comunitaria; Education, Medical; Family practice
• ISSN: 1578-1275
• DOI: 10.1016/j.aprim.2024.102935

Family and Community Medicine is the most offered and chosen specialty in the MIR (Spanish medical residency examination), however, every year its attractiveness is questioned due to not all offered positions being filled and a certain number of resident doctors deciding not to continue in this specialty once started. In this context, some of the proposals to address the problem focus on increasing the supply when the facts show that the challenge lies in addressing the demand by making the specialty and its professional scope more attractive. The problem and its determinants are analyzed in this context by focusing on four elements that may be influencing it: the vocational aspects of medical graduates who pursue specialization, the characteristics of the specialty program and the teaching units where training is carried out, the presence of family medicine in the university as a key element for knowledge and affinity to this specialty from undergraduate studies, and finally, the situation of primary care as the space where training is materialized and the priority setting for the professional practice of future specialists.