Biomedical dominance and the underrepresentation of primary care: An analyses of self-claimed research priorities of German medical schools

Background Primary care providers deliver the majority of medical care serving as essential first points of contact and care coordinators. Despite the significant challenges they face, primary care research seems to lag behind and stay low-funded. Since the mid-1990s, academic reforms have emphasised metrics like third-party funding and high-impact publications. Medical schools were encouraged to develop distinct research profiles and to compete both internally and externally, leading to shifts in how research areas were prioritised, potentially disadvantaging primary care research.