A Retrospective Descriptive Review and Title-Based Thematic Content Analysis of Family Medicine Specialty Theses in Türkiye: 2015–2024

INTRODUCTION: This study aimed to evaluate family medicine specialty theses in Türkiye (2015–2024) in terms of institutional contribution, author sex distribution, and topic trends.
METHODS: The Council of Higher Education National Thesis Center (YÖKTEZ) was searched using filters “Family Medicine” (department), “Medical Specialty Thesis” (type), and “Permitted” (access) for 01 Jan 2015–31 Dec 2024. After excluding non-eligible/duplicate/non-accessible records, 4,715 theses were included. Year, institution type (University of Health Sciences (UHS) vs other universities), author sex (inferred from names where possible), and topic categories were assigned using a predefined title-based thematic framework. Chi-square tests were applied; p<0.05 was considered significant.
RESULTS: Overall, 64.2% of theses were authored by females (n=3,024) and 35.8% by males (n=1,691). UHS accounted for 45.8% (n=2,160) and other universities for 54.2% (n=2,555); sex distribution did not differ by institution type (p=0.075). The annual number of theses increased from 115 in 2015 to 767 in 2024 and reached its highest level in 2023 with 839 theses. The UHS share exceeded 50% after 2022, rising from 16.5% in 2015 to 53.0% in 2022, 53.3% in 2023, and 50.2% in 2024. The most common topic was primary care practice (25.9%, n=1,223), followed by attitudes/perceptions/approaches (9.3%, n=440) and infectious diseases (8.2%, n=387). Primary care practice remained the leading topic throughout the study period, although its annual proportion varied significantly from 27.8% in 2015 to 18.9% in 2019 and 29.3% in 2024 (p<0.001). Significant year-by-year changes were observed for primary care practice (p<0.001), infectious diseases (p<0.001), and other clinical topics (p<0.001). Infectious diseases showed a pandemic-period increase, rising from 4.6% in 2020 to 13.7% in 2021 and 13.5% in 2022, before decreasing to 3.8% in 2024. Knowledge/awareness topics increased from 0.9% in 2015 to 5.4% in 2023 and 3.8% in 2024 (p=0.041). Other clinical topics increased from 0% in 2015–2016 to 5.9% in 2024 (p<0.001). Linear regression showed a significant increase in annual thesis production (β=84.92, 95% CI=66.07–103.76, R²=0.931, p<0.001). Infectious disease-related theses were more frequent in the pandemic/post-pandemic period than in the pre-pandemic period (OR=1.56, 95% CI=1.20–2.02, p<0.001).
DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION: Between 2015 and 2024, family medicine thesis production increased, female authorship remained predominant, UHS contributed increasingly, and topic patterns demonstrated statistically significant, albeit proportionally modest, shifts—particularly during the pandemic period. These findings demonstrate both a quantitative expansion in thesis production and significant temporal changes in institutional and thematic patterns in family medicine specialty theses in Türkiye.

Keywords: Family medicine, family medicine specialization education, family medicine theses, thematic content analysis, descriptive review