Being community-responsive physicians. Doing the right thing.

OBJECTIVE To explore how primary care physicians respond to a community's needs and challenges.

DESIGN Qualitative study using focus groups.

SETTING Fee-for-service practices or community health centres in downtown Toronto, Ont.

PARTICIPANTS Purposive sample of 21 community family physicians (10 women and 11 men).

METHOD Participants were invited to join focus groups of four to six physicians. Themes were derived from qualitative analysis of the data using grounded theory.

MAIN FINDINGS Three major themes were identified by these community-responsive physicians: they carry out specific roles (collaborator, health educator, advocate, resource, and tailor of care); they face several challenges, including lack of funding and a dysfunctional health care system; and they share common beliefs about practising medicine. Whether current health care structures support physicians to actually carry out these roles in practice, however, is unclear.

CONCLUSION This study increased understanding of how primary care physicians respond to community needs and what they experience in the process.