Place-based clinical education is vital for promoting the growth of the rural clinician workforce; where learners receive their education strongly influences where they practice. Yet students may struggle to find rural placements. In this study, we sought to understand trends in teaching by family physicians for varied health professions and the associated physician, practice, and community factors. We analyzed data from 14,789 early career family physicians surveyed from 2016 to 2023. We compared the teaching status of rural and urban physicians overall and by year. We conducted trend analyses and multivariate regression to investigate the relationship between physician and practice characteristics, practice activities, community characteristics, and teaching status. More rural than urban physicians taught premedical students (30.8% vs 18.7%), medical students (62.2% vs 54.4%), and advanced practice professional students (51.2% vs 33.7%), while more urban than rural physicians taught residents (41.9% vs 37.8%) and fellows (8.7% vs 2.3%). Trend analyses showed an 8.4% increase in rural physicians teaching residents from 2016 to 2023, and a decline in teaching advanced practice professional students over the same time period. In adjusted analyses, family physicians who were younger, male, and White non-Hispanic were more likely to teach, as were osteopathic physicians, those with a broad scope of practice, and those who provided obstetric services. A larger share of rural than urban early career family physicians teach health professions students, but the rate who are teaching advanced practice professional students has declined significantly. Understanding and arresting the decline will be essential to addressing rural workforce capacity.
Despite being critical to maternity care access, family physicians attending births continue to decrease in number. We aimed to determine the level of obstetric training at family medicine residencies and to use this variable to quantify the impact of residency training on the maternity care workforce. We used data from the 2016 to 2023 American Board of Family Medicine National Graduate Survey and the 2018 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance residency program director survey. Our exposure variable was created from a self-reported number of births attended in residency and tested using bivariate analyses with eight survey items that may indicate strong obstetric training. We then included residency obstetric training in a multilevel multiple logistic regression with attending births in practice as the outcome. Sixty percent of residencies train all the family physicians who attend births. Of the 11,728 family physicians included, the higher the obstetric training exposure for their residency, the higher the rate of attending births in practice (35.8% for average 81 + births per resident across residency vs 22.6% average 61-80 births per resident vs 10.9% average 41-60 births per resident). After adjusting for multiple other variables, graduating from a residency with higher exposure was significantly associated with attending births in practice. Independent of other factors, residency obstetric training exposure has a significant impact on whether a family physician attends births in practice. Policies protecting and developing residencies with the highest exposure may improve access to safe maternity care.
Despite a robust literature on the topic, a consistent definition of medical professionalism remains elusive. A single, generalizable definition is ineffective and tends to emphasize prohibited behaviors rather than aspirational concepts. As physicians are increasingly employed by corporate entities, the nature of healthcare work has changed, as well as professional expectations. This study explores how patients and family physicians understand medical professionalism and its drivers.We recruited family physicians who completed the ABFM Continuing Certification Questionnaire in 2024 to participate in in-depth, semi-structured interviews. A trained qualitative researcher used Zoom to interview 27 demographically diverse physicians. We utilized modified snowball sampling to recruit patients through a key informant. All interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed utilizing NVivo software following an inductive content analysis approach.Interview results coalesced into a model of professionalism that represents the clinic visit, the practice site, and the overarching system. Three main components of individual physician professionalism emerged, including foundational duties, relationship-based care, and communication. Patient trust in the overarching healthcare system and individual physicians was deeply influenced by the interconnected system.This study presents key elements of physician professionalism while highlighting how deeply physicians are entangled within the larger practice and healthcare systems. Professionalism extends beyond-and is impacted by-more than individual attitudes and behaviors. Institutions must interrogate their own policies to support physicians in developing their skills in relationship-based care and communication.
Although interoperability advances and policy initiatives have expanded EHR functionality and were intended to streamline clinical workflows, many administrative tasks remain burdensome. To describe the prevalence and co-occurrence of three administrative burdens in family medicine and to assess associations of health information technology (health IT) and organizational resources with these burdens. Cross-sectional study PARTICIPANTS: In total, 8419 US family physicians completing American Board of Family Medicine certification requirements in 2024. Self-reported effort spent tracking down external health information and completing prior authorizations and time spent documenting clinical care outside regular office hours. Key independent variables included perceived EHR support for obtaining external information, ability to complete prior authorizations within the EHR, and use of documentation support tools including scribes, other staff, transcription tools, and EHR templates. Respondents were 46% female and 60% under age 50. More than three-quarters of physicians reported at least one substantial administrative burden, and 15% experienced substantial burden from all three activities. Satisfaction with EHR support for obtaining external information was associated with lower likelihood of substantial effort for that task (OR 0.47, P < 0.001), whereas ability to complete prior authorizations within the EHR was not associated with lower prior authorization burden. Use of staff support and EHR templates rated as helpful were associated with lower likelihood of substantial after-hours documentation (staff support OR 0.83, P < 0.001; templates OR 0.70, P < 0.001) and of experiencing the triple burden (templates OR 0.63, P < 0.001). Cross-sectional, self-reported data from a single physician specialty may limit generalizability. Administrative burdens remain common in family medicine. Interoperability and documentation supports may mitigate some burdens, whereas prior authorization burden persists despite current electronic capabilities. US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT.
Decisions to limit life-sustaining treatment (LST) in intensive care frequently generate ethical tensions between physicians and patients' relatives. Although France and the United States both emphasize respect for patient autonomy, their decisional frameworks allocate different roles to physicians and surrogates, raising questions about how these models shape ethical practice. The aim of this study was to compare French and American approaches to LST decision-making to identify shared ethical difficulties in physician-relative interactions beyond framework differences. Qualitative comparative analysis combining a review of decisional frameworks with semi-structured interviews of intensivists and ethicists in France and the United States. Data were analyzed thematically. Three recurrent ethical issues emerged across both contexts. First, while patient autonomy remains a central normative reference, its implementation is limited by the scarcity, ambiguity, and contextual inadequacy of advance directives, as well as uncertainties in interpreting patients' wishes through relatives. Second, irrespective of formal decision-making authority, physicians report a strong sense of moral responsibility grounded in medical expertise and professional integrity, often associated with moral distress when asked to provide treatments perceived as non-beneficial. Third, conflicts with relatives commonly arise from value-based disagreements regarding proportionality of care and perceived medical futility. Despite contrasting legal models - physician-led decision-making in France and surrogate-led decision-making in the United States - ethical tensions surrounding LST decisions appear largely similar. These findings suggest that procedural frameworks alone are insufficient to address the moral complexity of end-of-life decision-making, underscoring the need to strengthen ethical deliberation, and recognition of shared moral responsibility between physicians and relatives.
Chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) is widespread in Canada, with Family Physicians (FPs) playing a crucial role in patient care and opioid stewardship amidst high prescribing rates. Two national surveys conducted in 2010 and 2018 revealed notable knowledge gaps and poor adherence to safe opioid prescribing practices among Canadian FPs. To provide an update on Canadian FPs' knowledge, attitudes, and behavior regarding opioid prescribing for CNCP. This study is the third national cross-sectional online survey of Canadian FPs. The results are presented narratively, and only descriptive statistics are offered. A total of 529 responses were collected from July 2023 to June 2024, primarily from female participants (52%) and Ontario (50%). Eighteen percent of respondents did not prescribe opioids for CNCP, and 17% prescribed only weak opioids. Wait time for a pain specialist and for a non-urgent referral to an addiction specialist were less than one month among 23% and 25% of respondents, respectively. Only 27% of respondents were able to correctly identify the minimum daily dose of morphine equivalents to start prescribing a transdermal fentanyl patch. Respondents' adherence to recommended practices before starting opioids varied from 16% for "providing written information about opioid therapy" to 93% for "explaining potential harms of long-term opioid therapy." Several knowledge gaps and a lack of adherence to certain guideline-recommended practices were observed among respondents, along with reduced wait times for consultations with pain specialists. Contexte : La douleur chronique non cancéreuse est répandue au Canada, et les médecins de famille jouent un rôle de premier plan dans les soins aux patients et l’encadrement de l’utilisation des opioïdes, dans un contexte où les taux de prescription demeurent élevés. Deux enquêtes nationales menées en 2010 et en 2018 ont mis en évidence des lacunes manifestes dans les connaissances et une faible adhésion aux pratiques sécuritaires de prescription d’opioïdes chez les médecins de famille canadiens.Objectifs : Faire le point sur les connaissances, les attitudes et les comportements des médecins de famille canadiens à l’égard de la prescription d’opioïdes pour la douleur chronique non cancéreuse.Méthodes : Cette étude constitue la troisième enquête transversale nationale en ligne menée auprès des médecins de famille canadiens. Les résultats sont présentés de façon narrative, et seules des statistiques descriptives sont rapportées.Résultats : Au total, 529 réponses ont été recueillies entre juillet 2023 et juin 2024; les répondants étaient principalement des femmes (52 %) et provenaient surtout de l’Ontario (50 %). Dix-huit pour cent des répondants ne prescrivaient pas d’opioïdes pour la douleur chronique non cancéreuse, et 17 % prescrivaient uniquement des opioïdes faibles. Le temps d’attente pour consulter un spécialiste de la douleur et pour obtenir une consultation non urgente auprès d’un spécialiste en toxicomanie était inférieur à un mois chez 23 % et 25 % des répondants, respectivement. Seuls 27 % des répondants ont pu identifier correctement la dose quotidienne minimale d’équivalents morphine à partir de laquelle commencer à prescrire un timbre transdermique de fentanyl. L’adhésion des répondants aux pratiques recommandées avant l’instauration des opioïdes variait de 16 % pour « fournir des informations écrites sur le traitement par opioïdes » à 93 % pour « expliquer les méfaits potentiels du traitement par opioïdes à long terme ».Conclusion : Plusieurs lacunes dans les connaissances et une faible adhésion aux pratiques recommandées par les lignes directrices ont été observées chez les répondants, de même qu’une réduction du temps d’attente pour les consultations auprès de spécialistes de la douleur.
Canadian emergency staff have been dealing with record patient attendances, long wait times, bed blocking, and department overcrowding. We sought to report temporal trends in Canadian emergency physician burnout, and describe the impact of emergency medicine practice on physician well-being. We undertook a longitudinal study on Canadian emergency physician wellness that enrolled participants in April 2020. Participants were invited to 3 follow-up surveys in November 2020, September 2022, and January 2025. The primary outcomes were emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and personal accomplishment scores. We conducted a deductive qualitative thematic analysis of the 2025 survey free-text responses by applying the framework created with our 2022 survey, to identify interconnected themes explaining burnout causes, consequences, and mechanisms that physicians use to stay in the specialty. The response rate to the survey was 410/615 (67%) in January 2025, from respondents in all provinces or territories in Canada except Yukon and Nunavut. Of 410 participants, 41 (10%) had left the profession. Among those who remained in emergency medicine and completed the full survey, 69/351 (20%) had taken time off emergency medicine and 170/351 (48%) had reduced their clinical hours in emergency medicine. In total, 229/351 (65%) scored either high emotional exhaustion, high depersonalization, or both. Burnout levels in 2020, 2022, and 2025 remained unchanged. Respondents pointed to a broken health care system, unrealistic societal expectations, and insurmountable workplace challenges as reasons for burnout. The consequences were physician distress and leaving the profession. Mechanisms to continue in emergency medicine were reducing work hours, modifying work roles, and changing health care institutions. Emergency physician burnout remains high, with almost half of respondents having reduced their work hours, and 10% having left the profession. Provincial, regional, and institutional health care leaders could reduce emergency physician burnout by following EM:POWER recommendations and instituting work models that facilitate reducing clinical hours and taking time away from emergency medicine when needed.
Investigate student-athlete (SA) preference for gender identity, race, and ethnicity of their athletic trainers (ATs) and team physicians and understand reasons for these preferences. Cross-sectional. Online survey. National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) SAs. SAs gender, race, and ethnicity. SA preference for gender, race, and ethnicity of ATs and team physicians. 212 NCAA SAs completed the study. Those of minority gender (female), ethnicity (Hispanic), and race (non-white) were more likely to prefer ATs with concordant characteristics and this was significant for gender (odds ratio [OR] for ATs 8.81; OR for team physicians 4.41; both P < 0.01) and race (OR for ATs 12.25; OR for team physicians 10.22; both P ≤ 0.01) but not statistically significant for ethnicity (OR for ATs and team physicians 4.25; both P = 0.9). SAs cited the importance of professional competence, comfort during physical treatment, and empathy and relatability as reasons for their preferences. NCAA SAs who identify as female or non-white race significantly prefer ATs and team physicians with concordant demographic characteristics. Understanding these preferences when building medical teams may help SAs feel safe and valued by their medical providers.
Health Care Administration, Leadership, and Management (HALM) has emerged as a growing area of expertise as physicians have assumed greater responsibility in healthcare leadership. The need to establish oversight of specialty development, including the creation of a Core Content for HALM to inform structured training and preparation for subspecialty certification examination, has been recognized by the American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS). This article aims to describe the process used to define the HALM Core Content through the formation of a Task Force of subject matter experts. In February 2023, ABMS approved HALM as a new subspecialty. The first HALM written board certification examination was slated to be administered in October 2024. In preparation for this assessment, the American Board of Emergency Medicine convened a multi-specialty HALM Task Force to define the HALM Core Content that would serve as the basis for this first and subsequent HALM examinations. Informed by a literature review in conjunction with iterative review and expert consensus, the HALM Core Content was finalized. The HALM Core Content addresses nine major domains, including 1) Business of Health Care; 2) Care Innovation, Health Equity, and Population Health; 3) Governance; 4) Health Care Policy, Law, and Advocacy; 5) Health Information Technology; 6) Human Resource Management and Workforce Development; 7) Leadership in Patient Safety and Quality Improvement; 8) Organizational Leadership and Communication Skills; and 9) Professionalism and Ethics. The HALM Core Content lists topic areas within each of the domains, which will be reviewed and updated every five to seven years. Reviews may be conducted sooner if there are key advances in HALM content that should be incorporated promptly. The Core Content herein informs the organizational framework for the development of HALM subspecialty certification. Additionally, residency and fellowship program directors may reference the HALM Core Content to design curriculum focused on healthcare administration and leadership.
Recommendations from the American Board of Pediatrics propose a two-year fellowship for Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine. A survey of members of the Association of Academic Neonatology Division Directors was conducted to gather perspectives on the recommendations. A minority of respondents were supportive of 2-year fellowships. Although there may be some financial benefit by transitioning to a faculty salary earlier, risk of burnout, attrition of the academic and physician scientist pipeline, and curtailing innovation and discovery were cited as major concerns. Division directors are supportive of enhancing clinical exposure, transition to competency-based assessment, and the creation of trainee pathways within 3-year fellowships.
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Ownership consolidation in US healthcare delivery is transforming how patients access primary care (PC), where PC clinicians practice, and the composition of the PC workforce with potential implications for healthcare costs and quality. Describe US PC workforce and site ownership changes between 2020 and 2023. Repeated cross-sectional analysis of 2020 and 2023 data from the IQVIA OneKey Healthcare Professional databases and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Compendium of US Healthcare Systems. Population-based study of US PC physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants, and PC clinical sites. Changes in size and distribution of the PC workforce by specialty and practice ownership; changes in the number and distribution of PC sites by size, rurality, and ownership (health system, corporation, or independent). Between 2020 and 2023, the PC workforce grew 7% (257,907 to 274,925). Family medicine physicians increased 5% (76,563 to 80,712), while the number of PC nurse practitioners grew 17% (70,013 to 81,650). By 2023, 64% of PC physicians were affiliated with health systems or corporations (increase from 58% in 2020). During the same period, the number of PC sites decreased from 75,639 to 74,189, with independent and rural sites declining 7% and 2%, respectively, while health system and corporation sites increased by 4% and 17%, respectively. The US PC landscape is increasingly dominated by health systems and large corporations, with these organizations accounting for all the growth in the physician workforce between 2020 and 2023. Despite a growing workforce, the reduction in PC sites, particularly in rural areas, may negatively impact PC access. These findings suggest the need for an accessible data source for monitoring the effects of policies intended to increase the PC workforce and examining how patterns of PC site ownership affect healthcare costs and quality.
Hospital quality reporting remains a manual, costly process with critical limitations as a mechanism to improve care outcomes. To assess whether near-real-time quality measurement, enabled by large language models (LLMs), can improve quality performance as measured by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Severe Sepsis and Septic Shock Management Bundle (SEP-1) quality metric. This single-blind, unstratified, cluster randomized trial was conducted between December 13, 2024, and July 8, 2025, at 2 academic emergency departments (EDs) within the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) health system. Participants included all 66 attending physicians who practiced in the UCSD EDs and worked more than 3 shifts per month prior to study initiation. Participants were randomized to receive targeted feedback from LLM-determined compliance with SEP-1 at the time of patient discharge or standard process. The primary outcome was overall compliance with SEP-1. Secondary outcomes included expert agreement with the LLM SEP-1 determination, 30-day mortality, and intensive care unit admissions of patients with severe sepsis and/or septic shock in the ED. Effect sizes were estimated from a mixed-effects logistic regression model with the intervention group as a fixed effect and a random intercept for physician. The study population included 66 physicians who treated 301 patients (121 in the control group and 180 in the intervention group; median age, 64.3 [IQR, 51.1-75.7] years; 171 [56.8%] male; 52 [17.3%] with chronic kidney disease; 52 [17.3%] with chronic heart failure) who met CMS inclusion criteria for SEP-1. Physicians in the control group had a SEP-1 compliance rate of 70.1%, while those in the intervention group had a rate of 82.9%. Assignment to the intervention group resulted in a 13.0% absolute improvement in SEP-1 compliance (95% CI, 2.5%-23.4%; odds ratio, 2.10 [95% CI, 1.15-3.81]; P = .02) in the mixed-effects model. The largest difference between the intervention group and control group was in noncompletion of the 30-mL/kg fluid bolus component (3 of 180 [1.7%] vs 16 of 121 [13.2%]), a documentation-sensitive component of the quality measure. Agreement between LLM determination and expert review was 92%. No significant differences existed in intensive care unit admissions or 30-day mortality. In this cluster randomized trial of artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled medical record abstraction for sepsis care, rapid assessment of SEP-1 performance and targeted feedback improved overall compliance with the measure. AI-driven quality clinical integration may address limitations in existing hospital quality reporting and better support a learning health system. ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT07581340.
Underrepresented racial and ethnic communities participate in clinical research at disproportionately low rates. This underrepresentation creates gaps in the generalizability of research findings, which may exacerbate existing health disparities. Our objectives are to understand factors influencing clinical research participation of women of underrepresented racial and ethnic backgrounds and to gather community-informed suggestions to improve their involvement in clinical research. A sample of nineteen semi-structured virtual interviews were conducted in English or Spanish with women enrolled in the WARRIOR trial. The Socio-Ecological Model (SEM) served as a framework for guiding interviews that were audio-recorded, transcribed, and uploaded to ATLAS.ti™ software for coding. Data were analyzed with a deductive content approach and consensus coding to generate themes based on the SEM. A total of 19 interviews were conducted. Among participants, 66% identified as Hispanic. Racial identification included 39% White, 33% Black, 6% American Indian or Alaska Native, 5% Other, and 17% who preferred not to disclose. Motivations for research participation included a desire to help others, compensation, and honoring their physician's request. Barriers such as a lack of transportation, language, limited understanding of the study, privacy concerns, fears of consuming unknown medications, and mistrust of the healthcare system were noted. Physician recommendations positively influenced enrollment, while family served a more supportive role. Participants preferred recruitment by trusted sources, such as healthcare providers. Many participants were generally aware of safety in research policies but not their specifics. Understanding the attitudes of underrepresented racial and ethnic groups toward clinical research and the factors that influence their participation is essential to increasing representation and improving the generalizability of study findings. Community-informed strategies addressing recruitment, trust, barriers, and safety concerns can foster inclusivity and ensure that research findings reflect target populations.
More than 29 million adults in the United States are diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, and insulin therapy is estimated to be needed in up to 15% of cases. Insulin should be considered first-line treatment in patients with severe hyperglycemia (eg, A1C greater than 10%, blood glucose 300 mg/dL or higher), symptoms of hyperglycemia, or catabolism. To optimize insulin use in an outpatient setting, family physicians must consider strategies for initiation, titration, and adherence. The preferred starting regimen is basal insulin with stepwise intensification to prandial or premixed insulin. Insulin regimens can be titrated as frequently as every 2 to 3 days until blood glucose targets are reached. Long-acting insulin analogues offer improved duration of action and reduced risk of hypoglycemia compared with intermediate-acting insulin. Continuous glucose monitoring may improve diabetes control and can be considered in patients who need insulin. Weight gain, hypoglycemia, and insulin regimen complexity are key challenges in diabetes management. Family physicians should use individualized targets that consider life expectancy, age, medical comorbidities, and hypoglycemia risk. Insulin treatment remains a significant but complex aspect of managing type 2 diabetes.
Hypertension is a leading global cause of morbidity and mortality, especially in low- and middle-income countries, where low healthcare access limits diagnosis and treatment. Community health workers (CHWs) supported by mobile health (mHealth) clinical decision support (CDS) tools may help. This study evaluated the feasibility of CHW-led hypertension management using an mHealth CDS application in rural Guatemala. We conducted a single-group feasibility study in San Lucas Tolimán, Guatemala. Trained CHWs assisted by a CommCare-based CDS application provided direct patient care. Application algorithms were based on World Health Organization guidelines and assisted with medication titration, lifestyle counselling, and physician consultation. Adults (≥18 years) with diagnosed hypertension were followed monthly for six months. The primary feasibility outcome was prescribing agreement between CHWs and supervising physicians with application of antihypertensive recommendations (minimum acceptable agreement was 90%). Primary clinical outcomes were changes in systolic (SBP) and diastolic (DBP) blood pressure. Secondary outcomes included retention, patient satisfaction, and safety. In total 32 participants were enrolled and 30 (93.8%) completed six-month follow-up, with 96.4% of possible visits completed. CHW-physician agreement with application recommendations was 98.9%. The median decrease in SBP was 7.5 mm Hg (95% confidence interval (CI) = 1.0, 12.0), and the mean decrease in DBP was 3.1 mm Hg (95% CI = 0.1, 6.1). The proportion of patients with controlled SBP (<140 mm Hg) increased from 66.7% to 76.7% (P = 0.505). A total of 11 application errors (5.0% of 217 visits) occurred, none of which resulted in adverse events. Only three patients experienced significant adverse events, none of which required hospitalisation. Patient satisfaction remained high. In this pilot, CHWs supported by an mHealth CDS application safely managed hypertension with high physician agreement, patient retention, and blood pressure improvement. These findings demonstrate the feasibility of CHW task-sharing hypertension management in low-resource settings and support evaluation of this approach in larger trials. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05479097.
Limited research explores dermoscopy use among physician associates (PAs), outside of one prior study examining dermoscopy in PA student education. This study sought to investigate dermoscopy use among practicing PAs and its impact on their overall diagnostic confidence, including in darker skin tones, when differentiating between benign and malignant skin lesions. An anonymous survey was developed in 2023 with input from experts in dermoscopy and survey creation to assess PA confidence in skin lesion evaluation as well as PA dermoscopy knowledge and use, perceptions, barriers to use, and prior education. The dermoscopy survey was included as an optional module in the 2024 American Academy of Physician Associates (AAPA) Salary Survey. Of 3174 invited PAs, 995 (31.4%) responded. Most had never used dermoscopy in practice (81%) but knew or recognized the term (71%). A majority (53%) believed PAs should be trained in dermoscopy during PA school, and 26% reported no interest in future dermoscopy use. Dermatology PAs reported more frequent dermoscopy use and generally greater confidence in evaluating skin lesions, both overall and in darker skin tones, than PAs in other specialties. PAs in surgical (OR = 0.2, 95% CI 0.1-0.6) and medical (OR = 0.3, 95% CI 0.2-0.5) subspecialties were less likely to use dermoscopy at least annually compared with PAs in primary care. PAs in rural areas were more likely to feel confident in differentiating skin lesions than those in urban areas (OR 2.9, 95% CI 1.7-5.0). Dermoscopy use is associated with higher overall skin lesion assessment confidence. Wider adoption, especially outside dermatology, requires training, increased advocacy, and expanded education.
Meningococcal infections represent a significant public health concern due to their high mortality and morbidity rates. In Turkey, meningococcal vaccines are not included in the routine immunization schedule, and families increasingly seek health-related information through digital platforms. YouTube, as a widely used video-sharing platform, has the potential to influence public attitudes toward vaccination; however, concerns remain regarding the reliability and quality of its content. This study aimed to evaluate the characteristics and quality of YouTube videos related to meningococcal vaccines in Turkey. This cross-sectional study analyzed 158 YouTube videos retrieved using the keywords "meningococcal vaccines" and "private vaccines." Videos were evaluated according to uploader type, content features, message tone, and audio-visual quality. The Global Quality Scale (GQS) and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) benchmark criteria were used for quality assessment. Of the videos, 55.7% were uploaded by physicians and 92.4% were intended for patient education. Most videos (86.7%) conveyed positive messages about vaccination. Physician-produced videos demonstrated significantly higher quality scores, while videos uploaded by pharmaceutical companies were more up-to-date and had higher view counts. Overall, a considerable proportion of the videos were of moderate or low quality. The quality and reliability of YouTube content on meningococcal vaccines vary substantially. Increasing the availability of evidence-based, high-quality content and encouraging greater involvement of healthcare professionals in digital media are essential to support informed vaccination decisions and reduce vaccine hesitancy.