Background: We sought to assess the way future general practitioners are promoted by their chief physicians.
Methods: Semi quantitative questionnaires sent to 54 chief physicians (hospitals in cantons Zurich and Berne).
Results: 42 (77.8%) questionnaires were returned. 41 (97.6%) chief physicians asked the assistant physicians about their intended career. 23 (54.8%) discussed with future general practitioners (GPs) specific learning objectives. 32 (76.2%) chief physicians would have appreciated an official catalogue of learning objectives for future GPs. A GP-specific traineeship was lacking in most of the hospitals.
Conclusions: The upcoming shortage of future GPs could be inhibited by an appropriate GP curriculum during the vocational training.