General practice: attractive career path or ugly duckling of medicine? Attitudes of Austrian medical students towards general practice in urban and rural areas

Background. Too few young doctors are interested in general practice, and even fewer aim to become country doctors. With our survey, we want to identify attitudes and factors that are associated with the decision for or against a career as a general practitioner and a practice in an urban or rural area. Additionally we were interested in the students' opinions on how general practice (in urban or rural areas) could become more attractive. Methods. In June 2018, data were collected among 5th and 6th year medical students (n = 89, via online survey) at the medical university of Vienna. The self-developed questionnaire included the following topics: income, working hours, personal plans for the future, living in the city vs. living in rural areas, opinions about general practice, opinions about general practice in rural areas, and aspects of education in general practice. Results. Only 15.8% see their future in general practice. Almost 60% think that the income of general practitioners is too low; 82.6% see the need for a better integration of the topic "general practice" into the curriculum. Only 9.8% think that general practice has a good reputation among doctors. Living in rural areas is anticipated as family friendly but only 28.1% would like to live in a village community. An urban infrastructure is essential to 61.7%. More than 50% prefer joint practices (in urban or rural areas). Conclusion. Support for joint practices, better reputation among doctors, and emphasis on general practice during medical education as well as looking for solutions besides the beaten paths can be components of long-term security of supply.