Changes to physical activity behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic and their associated factors: a cross sectional survey of Mexican women.

BACKGROUND: On March 24, 2020, the Mexican Government established social distancing measures to address the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. The resulting home confinement affected daily lifestyle habits such as eating, sleeping, and physical activity (PA). The objectives of this study were to determine changes in PA behaviors among Mexican women due to the COVID-19 pandemic and to assess potential factors associated with these changes. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study based on an anonymous online questionnaire developed by the Task Force on Physical Activity for Persons with Disabilities (PAPD) within the International Society of Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (ISPRM). Descriptive, quantitative statistics were used for data analysis. A Chi-squared (χ²) test was used to explore associations between dependent and independent variables. RESULTS: A total of 1882 surveys were completed. Among the respondents, 53.3% declared that their PA was reduced during the pandemic, 26.6% reported similar PA behavior, and 20.1% declared that their PA had increased during the pandemic. Lower PA behavior during the pandemic was associated with lower education levels, stricter pandemic constraints, obesity, and lower self-perceived functioning levels. A statistically significant association between poorer self-perceived mental health and decreased PA behaviors was also found. Respondents who were younger, self-perceived as unimpaired, not overweight, and whose income was not impacted by COVID-19 were associated with higher levels of reported physical and mental health. CONCLUSIONS: The study results identify disparities experienced in PA behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic among Mexican women and highlights the need for social support for PA participation.

Impact of central sensitization on pain, disability and psychological distress in patients with knee osteoarthritis and chronic low back pain.

BACKGROUND: Central sensitization (CS) is becoming increasingly recognized as a significant factor in many chronic pain conditions, including knee osteoarthritis (KOA) and chronic low back pain (CLBP). Yet it presently remains unclear how strong is the involvement of CS in KOA and CLBP and which factors are involved in CS in these two chronic disabling diseases. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study in which included a total of 178 patients with KOA and 118 patients with CLBP. Inclusion criteria for eligible participants for the KOA group were a confirmed diagnosis of KOA according to the American College of Rheumatology criteria, and for the CLBP group a chronic low back pain for more than 3 months. Subjects were excluded if they presented with a diagnosed psychiatric disorder or if they lacked the capacity to provide informed consent, understand study questionnaires or perform physical performance tests. In each group, were assessed; CS-related symptoms using the Central Sentization Inventory (CSI); demographic and clinical characteristics such as disease duration, pain intensity on a visual analog scale, self-reported function using the Lequesne index for KOA patients and the Oswestry Disability index for CLBP patients, and physical performance with the 6 minutes' walk test; as well as psychosocial risk factors using the Patient Health Questionnaire for depression (PHQ-9), the Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) and the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS). RESULTS: CSI scores significantly correlated with pain intensity and disability in KOA and CLBP patients, and were highly correlated with self-reported symptoms of depression, anxiety and pain catastrophizing. Depression significantly predicted the CSI score in both groups. CONCLUSION: These findings provide further evidence for the impact of CS on pain, function and physical performance in KOA and CLBP patients. Psychosocial symptoms such as pain catastrophizing, anxiety and depression should also be considered as they are also associated with CS.

Perceived Physical and Mental Health and Healthy Eating Habits During the COVID-19 Pandemic in Korea.

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has disrupted the lives of people around the world since 2020. This study aims to reveal perceived impact of the coronavirus pandemic on physical and mental health and eating behaviors among people with disabilities and without disabilities in South Korea, as compared to other countries. METHODS: A secondary analysis of a prospective cross-sectional study which was conducted with a web-based global survey. RESULTS: Among the 3,550 responses from 65 countries, 2,621 responses with nation information were set as full data, 189 for South Korea and 2,432 for other countries. In Korea, there was no significant difference in healthy lifestyle behaviors between people with and without disabilities before the COVID-19 pandemic. Perceived physical and mental health and changes in eating habits during the COVID-19 pandemic showed no significant difference between people with and without disabilities in Korea. There were significant differences in physical health and dietary habits, but no differences in its effect on mental health between people living in Korea and other countries in both people with and without disabilities groups. In other words, more than 60% of people in all groups (disability vs. non-disability, Korea vs. non-Korea) reported worse mental health than before the COVID-19 pandemic. CONCLUSION: In Korea and other countries, mental health showed a tendency to deteriorate regardless of the presence or absence of disability during the COVID-19 pandemic. In terms of healthy eating habits, Koreans were relatively less affected than people from other countries.

Medical education in Morocco: Current situation and future challenges.

Morocco is a North African lower middle income country; home to the oldest University in the world, where the first identifiable medical degree was issued. Medical Education in Morocco is provided through 10 Medical Schools offering each year around 3200 new places in the first year of medical studies. It is facing many challenges in both its undergraduate and postgraduate programs that need to be addressed urgently through the currently debated national reform of medical studies.

Medical Teachers' Roles from the Students' Perspective: A Moroccan National Survey-based Study.

BACKGROUND: The present study aimed to explore medical students' expectations from their teachers in Moroccan medical schools, regarding their primary educational roles. METHODS: An online questionnaire was distributed to medical students from the five main public medical schools in Morocco using a snowball sampling strategy. RESULTS: Two thousand four hundred and eighteen complete answers were collected and analyzed. The respondents gave the highest scores to "information provider" and the lowest scores to "Planner." When asked about their most preferred role they would want to see in their teachers, 40.6% of the respondents chose "Facilitator." CONCLUSION: These results highlight that Moroccan medical schools should become more invested in training their faculty members to meet the rapidly changing demands and requirements of modern medical education.

Résumé Contexte:La présente étude avait pour objectif d'explorer les attentes des étudiants en médecine vis-à-vis de leurs enseignants dans les facultés de médecine Marocaines, concernant leurs rôles éducatifs primaires.Méthode:Un questionnaire en ligne a été distribué aux étudiants en médecine des cinq plus grandes facultés de médecine publiques au Maroc en utilisant une stratégie d'échantillonnage en boule de neige.Résultats:Deux mille quatre cent dix-huit réponses complètes ont été recueillies et analysées. Les répondants ont attribué les notes les plus élevées au rôle de « fournisseur d'informations ¼ et les notes les plus basses au rôle de « Planificateur ¼. Lorsqu'on leur a demandé quel était le rôle qu'ils préféreraient voir chez leurs enseignants, 40,6 % des répondants avaient choisi "Facilitateur".Conclusion:Ces résultats soulignent que les facultés de médecine marocaines devraient s'investir davantage dans la formation de leurs membres du corps professoral pour répondre aux demandes et aux exigences en évolution rapide de l'enseignement médical moderne.

Is there an Association between Complementary and Alternative Medicine use and Trust in Physicians in Patients with Rheumatic Diseases?

INTRODUCTION: Generally, patients with chronic rheumatic diseases use complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) in addition to their conventional treatments to manage their health. Discussing these treatments with their physician is still rare, which might be directly related to patients' trust toward them. AIM: The primary objective of this study was to assess the association between patients' trust in their physician and the use of complementary and alternative medicine among patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases. As secondary objectives, to estimate the prevalence of CAM use, and to identify the associated factors with their use and with trust in physicians. METHODS: This is a cross-sectional study, which included patients with established chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases, at the University Hospital Center in Tangier. The questionnaire included demographic and clinical information, use of conventional therapy, complementary and alternative therapy, as well as interpersonal trust in patient-physician relationships using the Trust in Physician Scale (TPS). A regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with CAM use and with trust in physicians. RESULTS: The study included 189 patients. 57.14% of patients reported using complementary medicine at least once, most patients were women (77.78%), mean age was 46.67 ± 13.25 years with an average course of the disease of 11.11 ± 9.23 years. The most frequently used CAM treatments were cupping therapy, massage and the ingestion of a mixture of plants. Mean ± SD Trust in Physician Scale was 47.64 ± 7.2. There was no significant difference between CAM users vs. non-users (48.08 ± 6.9 vs 47.04 ± 7.4; p = 0.35). In uni and multivariate analysis, a low level of education was significantly associated with the use of CAM. However, no statistically significant difference was found with trust in physicians (OR = 1.020, 95% CI (0.978-1.063), p = 0.354). CONCLUSION: CAM therapy is common in patients with chronic inflammatory rheumatic diseases. No statistically significant association was found with trust in physicians, it was rather observed with level of education.

Conflict of Interest Disclosure in Oncology: Preliminary Insights From the Global ONCOTRUST-1 Cross-Sectional Study.

PURPOSE: Conflicts of interest (COIs) between oncologists and industry might considerably influence how the presentation of the research results is delivered, ultimately affecting clinical decisions and policy-making. Although there are many regulations on reporting COI in high-income countries (HICs), little is known about their reporting in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). Oncology Transparency Under Scrutiny and Tracking (ONCOTRUST-1) is a pilot global survey to explore the knowledge and perceptions of oncologists regarding COI. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We designed an online 27-question-based survey in the English language to explore the perceptions and knowledge of oncologists regarding COI, with an emphasis on LMICs. Descriptive statistics and the Consensus-Based Checklist for Reporting of Survey Studies guidelines were used to report the findings. RESULTS: ONCOTRUST-1 surveyed 200 oncologists, 70.9% of them practicing in LMICs. Median age of the respondents was 36 (range, 26-84) years; 47.5% of them were women. Of the respondents, 40.5% reported weekly visits by pharmaceutical representatives to their institutions. Regarding oncologists' perceptions of COI that require disclosure, direct financial benefits, such as honoraria, ranked highest (58.5%), followed by gifts from pharmaceutical representatives (50%) and travel grants for attending conferences (44.5%). By contrast, personal or institutional research funding, sample drugs, consulting or advisory board, expert testimony, and food and beverage funded by pharmaceutical industry were less frequently considered as COI. Moreover, only 24% of surveyed oncologists could correctly categorize all situations representing a COI. CONCLUSION: These findings underscore the importance of clear guidelines, education, and transparency in reporting COI in oncology. This hypothesis-generating pilot survey provided the rationale for ONCOTRUST-2 study, which will compare perceptions of COI among oncologists in LMICs and HICs.

Does gender moderate the association between socioeconomic status and health? Results from an observational study in persons with spinal cord injury living in Morocco.

Background: Socioeconomic status (SES) and gender are well-known social determinants of health. However, their impact on health in populations with physical disabilities in low-resource countries is still lacking. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate associations of individual SES with health and the moderating effect of gender on this association in a Moroccan population with a physical disability, namely spinal cord injury. Methods: Cross-sectional survey data from 385 participants with spinal cord injury living in Morocco were analyzed. SES was operationalized by education level, household income, financial hardship, and subjective social status. Health indicators included secondary conditions, pain, vitality, quality of life, and general health. Associations between SES and health indicators were investigated using linear and logistic regressions. To test the potential moderation of gender, interaction terms between SES and gender were introduced in regression models. Results: Financial hardship and lower subjective social status were associated with poorer health outcomes in four out of five indicators in the total sample. In contrast, education and income were inconsistently associated with health. Overall, gender did not moderate the association between SES and health, except that educational inequalities in general health were more pronounced in women, and the observation of a trend for a stronger negative effect of subjective social status on men's than woman's health (p > 0.05). Conclusion: This study revealed that subjective indicators of SES negatively impact on health, whereas evidence for the moderating role of gender in this association was weak. These findings underline the importance to reduce social marginalization and poverty in populations with disabilities in low-resource countries to reduce their double burden of living with a disability and encountering social disadvantages through low SES.

Knowledge, attitudes, and practice of leadership skills among undergraduate medical students.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: Medical knowledge alone is insufficient to provide excellent medical care. Modern healthcare challenges require that all physicians have leadership skills in order to better cooperate and collaborate with other healthcare professionals and effectively lead their teams to provide the best possible care to their patients. The objective of this study was to describe medical students' prior knowledge of leadership concepts, to assess their common practice of its main skills and to explore their general perception of its application by their seniors. METHODS: Non-graduated medical students enrolled in the 5th year of medicine or above were invited to fill-in an anonymous online questionnaire. 267 students (66% women) from different medical faculties took part in the study. RESULTS: 44% of the participants had a vague idea about leadership and 29% were completely ignorant of the concept. 52% of them thought that leadership was not to be expected from medical students, and 65% did not know that leadership in healthcare would benefit the patient. In their responses to simulated situations, the participants presented optimal attitudes embracing leadership attributes regarding self-awareness, receiving feedback, teamwork, stress and conflict management, however they present more contrasting attitudes when it came to time management and questioning oneself. Seniors with good leadership skills were perceived as few by half the participants. CONCLUSIONS: This survey highlighted the need of introducing specific leadership training programs within the curriculum of medical studies in Morocco.

Use of social media as a source of health information among patients with chronic low back pain.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the use of social media (SM) as a source of health information among patients with chronic low back pain (LBP) and to evaluate the factors associated with this use. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study involving patients with chronic LBP. Information on their sociodemographics, LBP characteristics, and comorbidities was collected. With the use of a questionnaire, we evaluated the use of SM as a source of information, examining the frequency of use, the type of SM used, and degree of confidence and application of information found. Catastrophising, trust in physicians, and concerns regarding medicines were assessed through the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), Trust in Physician Scale (TPS) and Beliefs about Medicines Questionnaire (BMQ Specific Concerns). A regression analysis was conducted to identify factors associated with the use of SM. RESULTS: A total of 118 patients were included. The mean age was 53.01 ± 14.09 years. Of the sample, 68.6% sought information regarding their LBP on social networks. The main source was YouTube (30%). Eighteen point six percent of patients trusted the information found through SM, and 16.1% have already acted on some of this information. The majority of patients (82%) would prefer to have healthcare professionals in their virtual spaces to answer their questions. In a multivariate analysis, only the degree of trust in the physician was negatively associated with SM use (OR = 0.95 IC 95% [0.91-0.99]; p = 0.03). CONCLUSION: This survey showed that a proportion of patients suffering from chronic LBP use SM, YouTube in particular, as a source of health information. The level of trust in physicians was the strongest factor that impelled people to use SM as a source of health information.

Medical students' contribution to research; the scientific output of medical theses held in Moroccan medical schools during the last decade (2011-2021).

BACKGROUND: In order to obtain their medical degree, medical students in Morocco are required to carry out a research project and provide a thesis outlining its methodology and findings. However, little is known about the scientific output of these theses. The aim of the present study was to explore and evaluate the characteristics and publication patterns in scientific-indexed journals of medical theses written by medical students in Morocco. METHODS: Data was extracted from registered theses between 2011 and 2021 in four medical schools that have an open-source documents archiving platform. Publication of these theses was assessed in 2022 using a search strategy in three indexed databases; Pubmed, Scopus and Web of science. RESULTS: 9807 theses were registered between 2011 and 2021, 41% of them in the faculty of medicine of Rabat. 99.1% of these theses were written in French, 61.7% were reporting a retrospective case series, and 38.9% of them covered surgical disciplines. 83 (0.8%) of the registered theses were published in a scientific-indexed journal, and half of the papers (49.4%) was written in French. The graduate student was the paper's lead author in 54.2% of the papers. The articles driven from the theses were published after a mean delay of 1.49 ± 1.34 years and the targeted journals had a mean SJR score of 0.69 ± 1.21. The total number of detected citations of the 83 published papers was 216. CONCLUSION: The publication rate of Moroccan medical theses is very low when compared to other countries, which leads to question the real benefit of this time and resources consuming educational activity.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on the Perceived Physical and Mental Health and Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors of People With Disabilities: A Quantitative Analysis of the International Community Survey.

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to determine the perceived impact of the coronavirus pandemic on physical and mental health and healthy lifestyle behaviors in community-dwelling persons with disabilities, as compared with those without disabilities. DESIGN: A prospective cross-sectional study was conducted with a web-based global survey. RESULTS: Over 3 mos, 3550 responses were collected from 65 countries. The study included 2689 responses without skipped questions as full data for analysis. Most respondents were women (82.82%), and approximately half (52.81%) were between the ages of 25 and 39 yrs, followed by those between the ages of 40 and 60 yrs (38.6%). Among the participants, 52% indicated physical activity levels decreased and 20% reported eating less fruit and vegetables than before. Furthermore, 45% noted that they slept less than before. Perceived physical and mental health and changes to eating habits during the pandemic showed a significant difference in people with and without disabilities. Furthermore, perceived effects on physical health had a significant effect on the reported degree of disability. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the pandemic had a larger impact on perceived physical and mental health and changes in eating habits and tobacco use among people with disabilities than people without disabilities.

Exploring scientific misconduct in Morocco based on an analysis of plagiarism perception in a cohort of 1,220 researchers and students.

Plagiarism is widely regarded as an issue of low- and middle-income countries because of several factors such as the lack of ethics policy and poor research training. In Morocco, plagiarism and its perception by academics has not been investigated on a large scale. In this study, we evaluated different aspects of plagiarism among scholars based on a 23-question cross-sectional survey. Factors associated with plagiarism were explored using contingency tables and logistic regression. The survey results covered all public universities (n=12) and included 1,220 recorded responses. The academic level was significantly associated with plagiarism (p<0.001). Having publication records was statistically associated with a reduced plagiarism (p=0.002). Notably, the ability of participants to correctly define plagiarism was also significantly associated with a reduced plagiarism misconduct (p<0.001). Unintentional plagiarism (p<0.001), time constraint to write an original text (p<0.001), and inability of participants to paraphrase (p<0.001) were associated factors with plagiarism. Moreover, participants that considered plagiarism as a serious issue in academic research had significantly committed less plagiarism (p<0.001). The current study showed that various actionable factors associated with plagiarism can be targeted by educational interventions, and therefore, it provided the rationale to build training programs on research integrity in Morocco.

Does developing multiple-choice Questions Improve Medical Students' Learning? A Systematic Review.

Practicing Multiple-choice questions is a popular learning method among medical students. While MCQs are commonly used in exams, creating them might provide another opportunity for students to boost their learning. Yet, the effectiveness of student-generated multiple-choice questions in medical education has been questioned. This study aims to verify the effects of student-generated MCQs on medical learning either in terms of students' perceptions or their performance and behavior, as well as define the circumstances that would make this activity more useful to the students. Articles were identified by searching four databases MEDLINE, SCOPUS, Web of Science, and ERIC, as well as scanning references. The titles and abstracts were selected based on a pre-established eligibility criterion, and the methodological quality of articles included was assessed using the MERSQI scoring system. Eight hundred and eighty-four papers were identified. Eleven papers were retained after abstract and title screening, and 6 articles were recovered from cross-referencing, making it 17 articles in the end. The mean MERSQI score was 10.42. Most studies showed a positive impact of developing MCQs on medical students' learning in terms of both perception and performance. Few articles in the literature examined the influence of student-generated MCQs on medical students learning. Amid some concerns about time and needed effort, writing multiple-choice questions as a learning method appears to be a useful process for improving medical students' learning.

People with spinal cord injury in Morocco: results from the very first systematic data collection.

PURPOSE: To report on the methodology, participant characteristics, and associations of four most frequent environmental barriers with health conditions, general health and quality of life (QoL) in the very first systematic data collection in people with spinal cord injury (SCI) in Morocco. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We obtained data from 385 participants of the cross-sectional Moroccan SCI community survey (MorSCI). We used descriptive statistics to describe participant characteristics and regression models to investigate associations of the five most frequently reported environmental barriers with health conditions (secondary conditions, pain intensity, mental health), general health and QoL. RESULTS: The most frequently reported environmental barriers were "lack of public services" (92.5%), "financial strain" (93.0%), restricted access to "public transportation" (85.5%), "public places" (83.9%) and "private places" (84.7%). People who perceived those factors as barriers also reported more secondary conditions, higher pain intensity, lower mental health, lower general health, and lower QoL. CONCLUSIONS: This study on Moroccans with SCI found that environmental barriers detract from health and QoL. Given that environmental barriers are potentially modifiable, policy interventions present powerful tools to reduce barriers and potentially increase health and QoL in this vulnerable population.IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATIONPublic policy on the construction of transportation and public places is important to make the physical environment accessible for wheelchair users to support their participation in society.The provision of adequate rehabilitation services and specialized post-acute rehabilitation units for people with SCI in Morocco is urgently needed, not only to contribute to health and QoL but also to contribute to their abilities to overcome environmental barriers.Adequate state services including universal health coverage and access to rehabilitation services and assistive devices or adapted tools must be a priority on the policy level to facilitate activities of daily living and reduce barriers.Improving the skills and knowledge of health professionals in SCI rehabilitation and guide policy makers to promote patient education and self-advocacy in the meantime, may help reduce the gap between needs of people with SCI and available support.

Distant education in Moroccan medical schools following COVID-19 outbreak at the early phase of lockdown: Were the students really engaged?

The Coronavirus pandemic outbreak has induced many urgent adaptation measures in Morocco including medical education that had to abruptly adopt an exclusive distant education approach, without former sufficient preparation. The present study aimed to assess medical students' engagement in their acutely implemented distant learning and to identify factors that could be associated to the students' studying engagement levels. Medical students from 1st to 5th years of medical studies, enrolled in all Moroccan public medical faculties were invited to fill-in an anonymous online questionnaire. 3174 medical students took part in the study, with a mean age of 20.4 +/- 1.8 years old, and 65.4% of them were women. 90% of the participants reported moderate to drastic change of their sleeping habits and 65% suffered depression symptoms. 20.7% of students didn't engage at all in their learning, 26% studied for less than one hour daily, and only 53.3% studied for one hour or more daily. Only 46.4% of the participants had access to multimedia studying resources and only 20.9% were offered online interactive sessions with their teachers. 41.8% of the participants were unsatisfied from their distant learning experience. Lower studying engagement rates were significantly associated with older age, male gender, change of sleeping patterns, depression symptoms, and also with lack of access to multimedia studying resources and poor general satisfaction from the distant learning experience. Distant Education needs to include more interactive activities and more multimedia studying resources to engage students more efficiently in their self-regulated learning.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors and Perceived Mental and Physical Health of People Living with Non-Communicable Diseases: An International Cross-Sectional Survey.

The huge burden and vulnerability imposed by non-communicable diseases (NCDs) during the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted how healthy lifestyle behaviors and the well-being of people living with NCDs need to be prioritized. The aim of our study is to better understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on healthy lifestyle behaviors and perceived mental and physical health among adults living with NCDs, as compared to people without NCDs. We conducted a cross-sectional study using a global online survey through Qualtrics. Over four months, 3550 participants from 65 countries worldwide responded to the survey. The study included 3079 surveys with no missing data (complete survey responses) that were used for analysis. People with NCDs were more likely to report statistically significant worsening physical health (p = 0.001) and statistically insignificant worsening mental health (p = 0.354) when compared to pre-pandemic levels. They reported lower rates of smoking during the pandemic than those without NCDs, and a statistically significant (p < 0.001) relationship was found between weight gain and NCDs. Therefore, the perceived physical and mental health, including changes in body weight and tobacco consumption, of people with NCDs were significantly impacted during the pandemic. In conclusion, this study indicates that the pandemic had a significant impact on perceived physical and mental health, changes in body weight, and tobacco consumption among people with NCDs.

Spinal cord injury in the Moroccan healthcare system: A country case study.

In this article, the authors report an overview of the healthcare management of People with Spinal Cord Injury living in Morocco. The authors' experience in monitoring neurologic recovery and rehabilitation expectations and outcomes are also presented. In addition to the epidemiological data, the patient journey through the chain of care, living with Spinal Cord Injury, the health and rehabilitation system are discussed. This paper illustrates well the suffering of people with Spinal Cord Injury specifically and of disabled persons in general living in low and middle-income countries, especially with the lack of access to specialized and quality rehabilitation facilities and shortage of healthcare workers specialized in rehabilitation.

General medicine, first-line medicine in Morocco: How is it perceived by medical students and how to enhance their interest in this career?

In Morocco, family medicine does not exist, and it is general medicine that plays the role of family medicine and is also first line medicine and primary care. The current medical school curriculum is not fully in harmony with the real health needs of the population. We questioned 6th and 7th year students about the pertinence of two rotations in general medicine, that is, in a health centre and a private practice, via an anonymous questionnaire disseminated online in June 2020. A total of 266 responses were collected. Out of these, 41.5% of responses were enrolled in 6th year, versus 58.5% in 7th year. Then, 59.1% of students were females. In addition, 84.8% of them declared their intention to pursue a career in a medical specialty, whereas only 15.2% of them were interested in a career as a general practitioner. Notably, 67.4%, 26.5% and 6.1%, respectively, thought that general medicine was very undervalued, a little undervalued and not undervalued. It should be noted that 3.8%, 44.1% and 52.1%, respectively, were interested, somewhat interested and not at all interested in family medicine as a specialty if it was implemented. To that end, various actions need to be undertaken, including the introduction of quality teaching in the 6th and 7th years of medical studies, focused on the development of the knowledge and skills required, the strengthening of pre-existing practical training periods in public health and the introduction of a rotation in private practices of general medicine.