One of the major challenges of the Philippine health system is the shortage of “primary care physicians”. With the passage of the Universal Health Care Law in the Philippines in 2019, there is an increased demand for primary care physicians to improve population-wide access to basic primary care service.

This study was done to determine the factors involved in the inclination of medical students in the National Capital Region (NCR) to become primary care physicians.

A qualitative study, particularly a phenomenological approach, utilizing semi-structured interviews was done in eighteen (18) first to third year medical students in the National Capital Region, Philippines. Qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis.

A total of 4 themes were deduced from the individual interviews including: 1) influence of internal motivators, 2) influence of people, education, and extracurricular activities, 3) perceptions of how the Philippine health system sees, treats, and incentivizes primary care physicians, and 4) how the macrosystem positions primary care practice contributes to the inclination to become primary care physicians. The participants emphasized service as a value they uphold in being inclined to be primary care physicians.

An interplay between internal and external factors influenced the inclination of medical students in choosing primary care and further reinforced by their desire to be part of the solution to the problems in the current healthcare system to address the needs of society.