The survey intended to explore and identify the
training background and status of general practitioners/
family physicians (GPs) in member countries within
EURACT (European Academy of Teachers in General
Practice/Family Medicine), and to gain an overview of
processes involved when GP-trained doctors migrate to
work in another member country. A questionnaire, with closed and open-ended
questions, was sent to representatives of all 39
EURACT-member countries in 2009. The main outcome
measures were the training background and status of
GPs in public/private settings in each country and the
requirements of additional training and testing when
migrating to another country. Forty-one completed questionnaires were received
from 31 (79%) of the EURACT countries. The data
indicate that specialist training for General Practice/
Family Medicine (GP/FM) is well established throughout
and generally required for appointment to public career
posts. The data also indicate that European Uniontrained
GPs can move freely to most countries with
usually no tests of medical knowledge or language
proficiency. Orientation to the healthcare system in the
destination country is usually not provided. work in public/private GP/FM posts in many European
countries, although new appointments to public posts
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Training, status and migration
of General Practitioners/Family
Physicians within Europe
in nearly all countries require specialist GP training.
It was not possible to identify a uniform or agreed
approach applied by employing agencies to confirm
the medical competence and language skills of migrant
doctors and to provide them with orientation to
healthcare systems. In the high-context dependent
discipline of GP/FM this is of concern.peer-reviewe
