Generalism as a cross-disciplinary practice in medicine
Anna Stevenson's medical student internship was funded by NIHR SPCR.
Research Team
- Martina Ann Kelly
- Sarah Cheung
- Agalya Ramanathan
- Et al
Abstract Objective: To clarify who generalist physicians are and what characterizes their practice. Data sources: MEDLINE, PsycInfo, SocINDEX, Embase, Ovid HealthSTAR, Scopus, and Web of Science. Study selection: Empirical studies (quantitative, qualitative, mixed methods) that described the attributes of generalist physicians across various disciplines in the clinical literature. Synthesis: A total of 262 studies from 25 countries met inclusion criteria. Forty-seven percent of studies lacked essential participant information. The remaining studies primarily framed generalism in terms of an absence of specialist training, reflecting a “deficit model” of care. We identified 4 archetypes of generalist practice: broad-based knowledge, generalism as adaptive expertise, generalism as integrative expertise, and generalism as interpretive expertise. Conclusion: Generalism lacks a consistent meaning across clinical disciplines in medicine. Four archetypes of practice are proposed to promote cross-disciplinary dialogue and guide the design of future health care systems and professional roles.
Information
Type
Journal article
Publisher
The College of Family Physicians of Canada
Address
Anna Stevenson’s medical student internship was funded by NIHR SPCR.
