“Mind the Gap” – Linking up Science and Family Practice Study Report: Well Informed Physician-Patient Communication on Back Pain Consultations

Abstract

Linking up science and daily practiceis a hallmark or research in family medicine. There is, however, an alarming gap between science and family practice. Due to their decentralized structures, family practices in particular are at risk of being excluded from the scientific developmental process. Within the prospective, multicenter, cluster-randomized GAP study (well-informed physician-patient communication in back pain), the use of an evidence-based internet portal for back pain consultations in family practice is being investigated. In this consortium project – financed by the innovation fund – an intervention through participatory and iterative procedures (integration of family practices) is developed. The new intervention presents medical evidence as communicable and consultable as possible. This article addresses the challenges of linking up science and family practice from the GAP study’s perspective. Family medicine plays an important role in the network of science and daily practice. On the one side, family practice itself is the object of investigation. On the other side, family practice also generates new research questions from everyday routine. The academic family physician – in a dual function as a scientist and family doctor – seems to be predestined to mind the gap between science and primary medical care.