"Primus inter pares"

Care in family practice is becoming more complex, by a growing older population, waiting lists and higher patient expectations. Therefore, the family physician collaborates with colleagues such as district nurses, physiotherapists, pharmacists and social workers. They try to formulate a joint care plan in which they gear their care to each other and to the patient. We call that interprofessional collaboration. In this collaboration, family physicians play a stimulating role. They are the primus inter pares: the first among equal colleagues. To fulfil that function well, a step-by-step plan for learning is needed. That starts with medical students, who are introduced to the different other disciplines in healthcare and learn what is needed to collaborate interprofessionally. Subsequently, during the specialty training in family medicine, they train in daily practice. When they work in a family practice after graduation, they need to improve their care continuously, together with their colleagues in the community.

In my lecture, I will explain the challenges in each of the three steps and how we, together with colleagues from healthcare and patients, study what measures can support interprofessional collaboration and education in primary healthcare.

Click here for the live stream.