Evaluation of correct diagnosis of referral patients to skin clinic by family physicians: A needs assessment for UME,CME

Background and purpose: It has been demonstrated that the level of welfare and improvement of nations is evaluated by the progress and achievement of their health service networks. The specialization of therapeutic approaches is one of the practical and effective ways to accomplish this goal. The health system savants believe that the family physician guideline is the redeemer of health system section. This study is aimed, to evaluate the accuracy of diagnosis of the dermatologic disease of referred patients by family physician in Zanjan Valiasr hospital in year 2008.Methods: This descriptive and cross-sectional study was done on 173 cases of referred patients from village family physician to dermatologic clinic. After correct diagnosis by dermatologist data including age, sex, family physician diagnosis and dermatologist diagnosis were recorded on data forms and then analyzed by Chi-square test.Results: From 173 referred patients, 76 cases (43.9%) were male, 49 cases (28.3%) were under 15 years old, 73 cases (42.2%) were between 15-30 years old, and rest were more than 30 years old. 28 cases (16.1%) have been referred with correct diagnosis.Conclusion: The level of accurate diagnosis by family physicians was law, which can be due to non-familiarity with common local skin disease and lack of enough instruction and education before starting the family physician project. We recommended that before starting this project, specialist workshop be prepared for family physicians.