Muhammed Fatih BARAN, Selma PEKGÖR
Ankara Medical Journal - 2026;26(3):423-444
Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate family medicine specialty theses in Türkiye (2015 -2024) in terms of institutional contribution, author sex distribution, and topic trends. Materials and 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 (beta=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). 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.
