Research orientation among general practitioners compared to other specialties

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flow chart of the Finnish Study 2018 population.

Table 1. Respondents’ distributions (%) and comparisons of sociodemographic features and opinions to education in research during education among doctors in general practice and other specialties.

	General practice N = 784		Other specialties N = 3446		p Value
	N	%	n	%
Gender^a					<0.001
Women	580	74.0	2151	62.4
Men	204	26.0	1295	37.6
Age groups^a					<0.001
<35	157	20.1	480	14.0
35‒44	206	26.4	764	22.3
45‒54	135	17.3	836	24.4
55‒64	190	24.4	927	27.1
65‒69	92	11.8	413	12.1
Interest in research work had some influence on studying medicine	158	20.2	1110	32.4	<0.001
Too little research education during medical studies^b	129	39.7	501	49.5	0.002
Opportunities to do research work had some influence on choosing specialty	81	10.4	1375	39.7	<0.001
Too little research education during specialization process	473	62.1	1591	46.8	<0.001

Organization of the alternatives for answers: far too little and too little combined, as well as appropriate amount, too much and far too much combined. Crosstabulation and chi-squared test were used in the analyses.

^aNot every respondent reported their age and gender (n = 12 in general practice and n = 68 in other specialties).

^bMost respondents did not answer this question.

Figure 2. Proportion (%) of GPs and doctors in other specialties in different age groups having started or completed a doctorate.

Table 2. Intention on completing a doctorate in the Physician 2018 Study.

	General practice N = 793		Other specialties N = 3,496
	n	%	n	%
No decision on doctoral studies	284	35.8	718	20.5
Decided not to complete a doctorate	403	50.8	1,084	31.0
Going to undertake a doctorate, but not sure about the topic	15	1.9	130	3.7
Going to undertake a doctorate, already chosen the topic	8	1.0	81	2.3
The doctorate is ongoing	25	3.2	354	10.1
The doctorate has been completed	58	7.3	1,129	32.3

Proportion (%) of answers among general practice and other specialties. Crosstabulation and chi-squared test were used in the analyses.

p < 0.001.

Table 3. Factors associated with intention to undertake a doctorate among GPs in univariate and multivariate logistic regression analyses.

	Univariate model	Multivariate model^a
	OR (95% CI)	OR (95% CI)
Gender
Female (n = 580)	1	1
Male (n = 204)	1.63 (1.05–2.54)	1.81 (0.99–3.29)
Marital status
Single (n = 68)	1	1
In a relationship (n = 713)	1.62 (0.68–3.84)	1.00 (0.00–>10)
Spouse is a doctor
No (n = 567)	1	1
Yes (n = 146)	1.03 (0.61–1.75)	1.09 (0.57–2.09)
Mother is a doctor
No (n = 728)	1	1
Yes (n = 48)	1.15 (0.50–2.63)	1.34 (0.47–3.85)
Father is a doctor
No (n = 707)	1	1
Yes (n = 68)	2.01 (1.09–3.72)	2.20 (0.95–5.10)
Children
None or only one (n = 174)	1	1
At least two (n = 554)	0.80 (0.49–1.29)	0.63 (0.35–1.16)
Being in a senior position
No (n = 644)	1	1
Yes (n = 145)	1.37 (0.84–2.25)	0.62 (0.31–1.22)
Interested in attaining a senior position
Little (n = 532)	1	1
Much (n = 254)	3.43 (2.25–5.24)	5.23 (2.87–9.54)
Working sector
Primary care (n = 536)	1	1
Other (n = 168)	1.87 (1.18–2.96)	1.58 (0.87–2.87)
Population of working municipality
< 50.000 (n = 307)	1	1
≥ 50.000 (n = 393)	1.41 (0.91–2.19)	0.99 (0.57–1.73)
Working at university hospital district
No (n = 259)	1	1
Yes (n = 440)	2.89 (1.69–4.94)	3.36 (1.79–6.31)

ORs with 95% CI.

^aAll analysed factors are in the multivariate model.

Statistically significant associations are in bold.