Factors that attract, fix, frustrate or pull away family physicians from primary care in Florianópolis

Abstract

Introduction: One of the main challenges in primary care in Brazil lies in retaining medical professionals in Family Health teams, which affects the attribute of longitudinality, an essential aspect of primary care. Objective: This study aimed to identify the factors that influence the attraction of family physicians (FP) to primary care in Florianópolis, as well as the factors that keep them engaged, frustrate them, or lead to their disengagement. Methods: A qualitative research design was employed, using in-depth interviews analyzed through conventional content analysis. Thirty family physicians were randomly selected from three groups: a) Statutory and active FP in primary care in Florianópolis; b) FP dismissed from service starting in 2021; and c) physicians who applied for the public competition held in 2019, which required a specialist title in Family Practice and was the last competition held to date. Results: Twelve FP were interviewed, all with medical residency. Among them, five belonged to the group of professionals who were dismissed, three were actively working in the primary care network, and four were among those who passed the last competition held in 2019 but did not assume the position. In summary, family physicians are attracted to work in Florianópolis due to certain aspects of the city and the opportunity to fully carry out their role as family doctors. However, weaknesses in the public health system, exacerbated over the past five years and further intensified during the critical period of the COVID-19 pandemic, have frustrated family physicians to the point of considering leaving primary care or continuing to work at the expense of their mental health. The factors that keep or have kept physicians in primary care in Florianópolis are mainly the reduction of clinical workload and their personal ties with family and friends in the city. Conversely, the final decision to resign stemmed from the psychological distress associated with work overload and/or receiving a lower salary than desired. Conclusions: Based on data analysis, it is inferred that the adoption of certain strategies could alleviate the frustration experienced by almost all participants: reducing workload with proportional salary adjustments, hiring mobile FP to cover absences, implementing an electronic health record integrating all routinely used digital platforms, and assigning bureaucratic tasks to an administrative professional.