Dr Juan Barranco - Rural Health in Spain

Rural Road to Health

Dr Juan Barranco is a rural family medicine doctor from Spain. He is a member of the EURIPA International Advisory Board and a member of the rural section of SemFYC an organization for family doctors in Spain

Episode Summary:

00.49 Could you tell us about your background and how you became involved in rural health?

02.45 How is primary care in rural areas organized in Spain?

05.41 Who are the members of the primary care team?

08.54 What are some of the challenges faced by rural communities in Spain regarding healthcare?

11:04 Does Spain have rural training pathways for students and clinicians?

15.18 Could you tell us more about how the rural health group within semFYC?

You hold a rural health conference every year, could you tell us more about the next conference that will be held in October this year?

20.33 You hold a rural health conference every year, could you tell us more about the next conference that will be held in October this year?

23.05 What do you enjoy most about being a rural family doctor?

25.56 What are your top 3 tips for people thinking about a career in rural health?

Key Messages:

Primary care in Spain is organized by the public administration, there are 17 regions. As a doctor you compete with other doctors for positions that are available and according to this you are allocated to a particular location. Not many doctors compete to work in rural areas. There are places in rural areas that are missing family physicians.

In Andalucia there are challenges and there is a lack of health workers in rural areas. Spanish doctors are moving to other countries in Europe and there are doctors from abroad, from South America, coming to work in rural areas of Spain.

Varied population for which he provides care which includes a lot of complexity- for local communities, local care homes, and migrants that have moved to the area.

Students and trainees are exposed to the complexity of care provided in rural areas and the types of challenges and problems that rurality brings.

Rural experiences for medical students are not very common in Spain. There is limited education on primary care as medical education is very hospital centric. The only exposure to rural medicine is during family medicine training as every trainee needs to spend time in a rural setting.

There are no current support networks for doctors choosing to work as a rural family medicine doctor.

Adapted training for rural areas depends on individual tutors that trainees have exposure to. There is not a standard curriculum for rural skills.

The rural section in SemFYC aims to promote rural medicine, organize an annual rural forum, provide rural specific training and support for rural clinicians.

The annual rural health forums have more than 300 GPs. There is a revival happening in rural medicine in Spain as doctors are looking for places where they can practice real family medicine.

This year's forum is planned for October in Trujillo and will have a focus on mental health. They are inviting organizations of rural women as these associations are very active in community life.

What does Juan like the most about being a rural doctor? Being a generalist and dealing with complexity.

What does he find most challenging as a rural doctor? To stay connected with others. There are 50 people working in the health center but most days he is working on his own with his nurse.

Top tips for people thinking about a rural health career: 1) Every doctor could develop a high quality career in a rural setting, 2) Be brave and step out of the mainstream especially if you are young and exploring options for your career, 3) take the opportunity to discover rural medicine.

Rural Health Conference in October 2024: https://jornadasrural.semfyc.es/

Thank you for listening to the Rural Road to Health!

Rural Health Compass