Objective: To document the perceptions that family medicine residents have of patient management.
Design: Bilingual, quantitative questionnaire consisting of 10 questions.
Setting: Quebec.
Participants: All (n = 747) family medicine residents in Quebec.
Main outcome measures: The questionnaire was designed to capture residents' perceptions of patient management, their plans to incorporate patient management into their practice, and how they thought this aspect of family medicine practice should be promoted.
Results: In all, 289 residents (38.7%) completed the questionnaire. Of these, 201 reported that they planned to accept patients during their first 5 years of practice. The most common inhibiting factors were the difficulty of taking time off, complex cases, and the responsibilities that come with continuity of care. Neither Quebec's regional medical staffing plans nor its specific medical activities emerged as important inhibiting factors. Respondents indicated that raising the profile of family medicine could be achieved by promoting it to medical students, changing the institutional culture, and increasing the visibility of family medicine residents and supervisors on the teams working in training settings.
Conclusion: Quebec residents plan to include patient management in their practices. However, solutions must be found for the heavy burden of responsibility that comes with an office practice and for continuing to make patient management appealing to young family physicians.