Abstract
Little is known about family medicine academic staff in Taiwan, and basic data about this workforce may aid healthcare decision makers. We analysed data on Taiwan’s 13 medical schools collected by the Taiwan Association of Family Medicine from June to September 2019. Items included medical school names and total staff, and the gender, age, degree, working title (part-time/full-time), academic level, and sub-specialty of each current family medicine faculty member. A total of 116 family medicine faculty members were reported; most were male (n= 85, 73.3%). Ages ranged between 30 and 69 years, with a mean (SD) age of 43.3 (8.09). Faculty members with a master’s degree were the largest group (n= 49, 42.2%), and most were academic lecturers (n=49, 42.2%). Additionally, only about one-fourth (n=26, 22.4%) of family medicine faculty in medical schools were full-time, while the other three-fourths (n=90, 77.6%) were part-time faculty; most were located in northern Taiwan (n=79, 68.1%) and specialized in gerontology and geriatrics (n=55, 47.4%) and hospice palliative care (n=53, 45.7%). Our research provides the most complete census of family medicine academic physicians in medical schools in Taiwan. The results inform efforts to improve the establishment and development of family medicine departments in Taiwan.