Selecting the Appropriate Method of Training Family Physicians in Iran to Achieve EMRO-Declared Perspective by 2030

BACKGROUND: To achieve universal health coverage (UHC), the World Health Organization (WHO) Regional Committee for the Eastern Mediterranean (EMRO) reported that the standard requirement for family physicians by 2030 is three family physicians per 10,000 people. The purpose of this study was to select the appropriate method of training family physicians in Iran to achieve this goal. METHODS: The present qualitative study was conducted in conjunction with the method of agreement, during three sessions of focus group discussion (FGD) with 13 key persons at the national level to answer two research questions on choosing the most appropriate method of training family physicians and the criteria for this selection. After analyzing the data by content analysis method, a table was designed including family physicians’ training methods and selection criteria and evaluated by participants in a 10-point spectrum. Then, the scores were summed and the mean was calculated for each method. RESULTS: The participants cited four methods, as well as 13 criteria. The Family Medicine Residency Program (FMRP) with a score of 93.4 and the Family physician bridging Program (FPBP) with a score of 68.38 were selected as the most appropriate training methods for the family physician to achieve the EMRO-declared perspective by 2030, respectively. CONCLUSION: According to the results of the study, the training of family physician specialist is the best method; but due to the long course and low output of this method, to meet the immediate needs of the health system and achieve the desired perspective, the FPBP approach was agreed as the most appropriate method of training the family physicians in Iran.