Family doctor as scholar

The study by Koo and colleagues, published in the June issue of Canadian Family Physician,¹ is an interesting, small study of opinions regarding whether the requirement for a formal research project contributes to the competency of a family physician as a scholar. Some respondents affirmed the utility of projects that were clearly connected to quality improvement in practice, while some questioned the limited exposure within residency training to the broader aspects of the scholarly role, beyond that of researcher. When I was Chair of the National Research Committee of the College of Family Physicians of Canada in the late 1980s (since replaced by the Section of Researchers), we struggled with the question of how best to inculcate a culture of questioning the dogma in the existing literature that did not reflect the practice experience of family doctors. We argued for the requirement for critical appraisal and audit skills for all graduates, as well as for resident projects that might involve original data collection but that could just as well involve critical review of the literature or creative work. The core requirement of the project was that the learner demonstrate the ability to question assumptions about “truth” and learn something about the process of knowledge creation.

We hoped that a few graduates each year might be “turned on” to become researchers, as has been the experience in many programs, but that all graduates would learn the skills to be critical users of knowledge. I still believe those core requirements for all graduates of family medicine programs are sound.

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