Family medicine and training: at the heart of future healthcare

Medical training, the evolution of family medicine, and future challenges for the healthcare system: these are some of the themes that characterised a recent interview with Professor Luca Gabutti, Full Professor at the Faculty of Biomedical Sciences and Director of the USI Institute of Family Medicine. The interview was conducted by Elena Locatelli and published in the magazine Il Ceresio.

Luca Gabutti joined the USI Institute of Family Medicine (IMF) as Director in 2024, following a long tenure as Head of Internal Medicine at the regional hospitals of Locarno and Bellinzona (EOC). He also serves as vice-dean of studies, managing the university's curriculum and student pathways. "Today, the Faculty is functioning very well," the USI Full Professor stated. "We welcome many students to Ticino and are seeing growing interest even from students from across the Gotthard, some of whom ask to stay here to complete their training. This is an encouraging sign for the region."

One of the central projects of his mandate is the founding and consolidation of the USI Institute of Family Medicine, established to strengthen the field within the Canton and develop new opportunities for training and research. "We built the institute practically from scratch, as a structure of this type did not exist in Ticino," he continued in the interview. "The institute works closely with the Medical Association of the Canton of Ticino and family doctors active in the region, also contributing to the development of new training initiatives." These include an advanced training programme dedicated to family medicine: "We have launched a pilot project at the Swiss national level: a MAS in Family Medicine, an advanced qualification that is generating great interest and already has about twenty students enrolled."

The Institute's work is part of a broader vision of medicine aimed at promoting appropriate and genuinely useful care for patients. Within this context lies Professor Gabutti's commitment to the Smarter Medicine – Choosing Wisely campaign, which encourages reflection on the value of clinical decisions. "I like to summarise it like this: moving from volume to value, from quantity to quality." According to this perspective, every medical intervention must be evaluated in relation to the concrete benefit for the patient and shared with them during the decision-making process: "Every medical act—whether diagnostic or therapeutic—can have more or less value depending on the patient and the timing," Gabutti explained.

Looking to the future of the healthcare system, the Director of the IMF concluded by emphasising the need for firm investment in the training of new generations of doctors: "Not only in technical skills, but also in relational and ethical ones. The healthcare of the future will increasingly need professionals capable of combining clinical competence, listening skills, and shared responsibility in their relationship with patients."