Introduction: The definition of social accountability in health (SAH) for medical schools has raised the issue of extending its understanding to health professions. To respond to this challenge, the Réseau international francophone pour la responsabilité sociale en santé (RIFRESS) first focused on physicians, all specialties combined.
Purpose of the study: This article presents the first open round of a Delphi study aimed at exploring the manifestations expected of a physician engaged in SAH, according to the opinion of an international French-speaking group of medical training experts. An intentional sample of experts was invited to participate from the list of RIFRESS members to ensure diversity in relation to certain characteristics. The first round of the Delphi consisted of a questionnaire made up of open questions inviting participants to describe the specific manifestations of a physician whom they consider to be engaged in SAH. The responses were then subjected to thematic analysis.
Results: Thirty participants presenting a diversity of profiles provided a total of 140 verbatim statements, grouped into thirteen themes.
Conclusions: The themes emerging from this study refer to medical expertise skills inherent to the profession and especially to behavioral skills essential for a medical practice engaged in social accountability. The values of SAH (quality, equity, relevance, and efficiency) are at the heart of the practitioner's commitments.