Background

Given the growing population of older persons, medical students need to develop an appropriate professional identity that enables them to give older persons the health care they need. The aim of this study is to gain more insight into the characteristics of this professional identity. To this end, we explored the perceptions of physicians who care for older persons regarding who they are as a physician, and what they think is important for older persons’ health care.

Methods

A qualitative study based on a constructivist research paradigm was conducted, using individual semi-structured, in-depth interviews and a visual research method (photo elicitation) as a prompt. The method of the six-step thematic analysis was applied to structure and interpret the data, using an inductive approach. The study population consisted of Dutch physicians who had an official medical specialty registration as an elderly care physician or a general practitioner with an additional qualification in geriatrics, and who provided health care to older persons at the time of the study. Twenty participants were purposefully sampled. The interviews took place at the participants’ place of work.

Results

The participants reflected on the characteristics of older persons’ health care, what they think is important in this care and who they are as physicians for these patients. Participants perceived themselves as the patient’s companion on their health care journey, helping the patient to find their way. They shared what is important to them on this journey, summarized by the three themes we identified: (1) to align with the patient (2) to find a way to navigate the complexity, and (3) to be reflective.

Conclusions

Being a physician for older persons means alignment with the patient, multidisciplinary collaboration, dealing with complexity and being self-aware. Physicians experienced in older persons’ health care can be role models for medical students. Participation in the community of practice of older persons’ health care can help medical students to develop a professional identity that enables them to give older persons the health care they need.

Clinical trial number

Not applicable.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-07140-8.