Characterising generalism in clinical practice: a systematic mixed studies review protocol

Background Generalist physician care is associated with improved patient outcomes. Despite initiatives to promote generalism in educational settings, recruitment generalist disciplines remains less than required serve societal needs. Increasingly this impacts not just general practice but also specialties such as internal medicine, surgery, and paediatrics. One potential factor for deficit a lack of explicit attention praxis, including clarifying key aspects expertise. Aim To examine empirical clinical literature on generalism, characterise how described delivered by physicians primary secondary care. Design & setting A systematic mixed studies review (SMSR) quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods studies, reviews practice. Method MEDLINE, Psycinfo, SocINDEX, Embase, Ovid HealthSTAR, Scopus, Web Science will be searched English language from 1999 present, using structured search. Given study heterogeneity, quality appraisal performed. Two reviewers perform selection each study. Data extraction focus defined characterised, the provided generalists experiences Quantitative qualitative data summarised tabular narrative form. Convergent synthesis design then used synthesise quantitative data. Conclusion Findings grassroots perspective. By identifying similarities differences across disciplines, work inform more focused at undergraduate postgraduate level, collaborations between disciplines.