ArticleF1000Research2026
Physicians shortage in primary care: a protocol for updating a systematic review of recruitment and retention strategies.
Article in F1000Research, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: The global shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs) poses a critical threat to healthcare accessibility and system performance in high-income countries. Previous reviews have documented a wide range of recruitment and retention (R&R) strategies, but the evidence base remains fragmented, outdated, and geographically uneven. In light of demographic transitions, the increasing burden of multimorbidity, and evolving models of care accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, an updated synthesis is needed to guide sustainable and context-sensitive workforce policies. Methods: This systematic review will follow PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) 2020 guidelines and is registered with PROSPERO (International Prospective Register of Systematic Reviews) (CRD420251008508). MEDLINE (via PubMed), Embase, and CENTRAL (Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials), will be searched for quantitative studies published from February 2015 onward, without language restrictions. Eligible studies will evaluate interventions designed to improve the recruitment and/or retention of PCPs, medical students, or residents in high-income countries. Primary outcomes will include the number of physicians recruited or retained and the duration of retention. Secondary outcomes will cover career intentions, cost-effectiveness, physician satisfaction and well-being, and workforce stability. Two reviewers will independently conduct study selection, data extraction, and risk of bias assessment using validated NIH (National Institutes of Health) quality assessment tools. Findings will be synthesized narratively, with thematic grouping by intervention type, career stage, and contextual factors (e.g., rurality, health system model). Discussion: This review will provide an updated and comprehensive assessment of R&R strategies for PCPs in high-income countries. By examining intervention logic, outcomes, and contextual modifiers, it will identify which approaches are most effective under specific conditions. The results aim to inform policymakers, educators, and workforce planners in designing targeted, scalable, and context-sensitive strategies to strengthen primary care workforce resilience.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.