Perceptions of primary care among medical students in Lima, Peru: a cross-sectional study in two universities

OBJECTIVE: To describe the perception of primary care (PC) among medical students from two universities in Peru. METHODS: A cross-sectional study was conducted among third- to seventh-year medical students from two universities in Lima, Peru. A questionnaire was applied to evaluate perceptions of PC. Crude and adjusted prevalence ratios (aPR) with their 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were calculated to assess factors associated with a favorable perception. RESULTS: Data from 418 medical students were analyzed (women: 60.8%, mean age: 23.4 years). Only 2.2% expected to work in PC after graduation. Regarding perceptions of PC, 82% agreed or strongly agreed that PC is a preparatory step toward medical residency, 55% felt cases were less interesting, and 44% believed the income was lower compared to hospital work. Being enrolled at Universidad Peruana Unión (aPR: 3.35, 95% CI: 1.85-6.05) and having completed an external rotation in PC (aPR: 1.36, 95% CI: 1.03-1.80) were associated with a favorable perception. CONCLUSION: Among the assessed students, most viewed PC as a step toward residency, and nearly half considered cases less interesting and income lower compared to hospital work. A favorable perception was associated with university affiliation and having completed external rotations in PC during training.