Journal of Preventive Medicine

Introduction
Health, as one of the most important categories of social policy, has a special place in the prosperity and development of any country [1]. In recent years, extensive activities have been carried out in the countries to improve the quality of primary health care [2]. To achieve the goal of “health for all”, international organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) have presented strategies to increase the quality of services in primary health care [3]. In Iran, the family physician program in Iran was developed in 2013 for this purpose [4]. The main goal of this plan was to maintain and promote the community health and provide health services for families, regardless of age, sex, or socioeconomic status [5]. In this plan, the family physician and their group are responsible for the health of the individuals and families covered by them [6]. Many studies have been conducted to determine the strengths, weaknesses, and reasons for the failure of the family physician program in Iran. There are limited studies on the challenges of this program in Minab, Hormozgan Province, south of Iran. It is necessary to redesign and provide appropriate and localized solutions to institutionalize it in this city as much as possible. The present study aims to explore the implementation challenges of the family physician program in Minab City.

Methods
This is a qualitative study using the thematic analysis method. The participants included the health network expansion headquarters, family physician program experts, the head of the health and treatment Network, doctors and health care workers in Minab City (n=10) who were selected using a purposive sampling method until reaching data saturation. The entry criteria were willingness to participate in the study and at least five years of experience in the family physician program. Semi-structured interviews and field notes were used to collect information. The recorded interviews were transcribed and then analyzed using MAXQDA software. To determine the reliability of the data, the opinions of an external observer were used. To determine the confirmability of the data, all activities were recorded, and a report on the research process was prepared. To determine transferability, the results were discussed and cross-validated with two non-research faculty members whose positions and experiences were comparable to those of the participants.

Results
Based on data analysis, five main themes (human resources, credits, rules, system security, standard policy), 10 categories, and 20 subcategories were extracted. Table 1 shows the extracted categories and subcategories within each theme (Table 1).



Conclusion
The results of this study can lead to the adoption of policies by the Hormozgan University of Medical Sciences and the Iranian Ministry of Health and Medical Education. Also, considering that this study identified many factors related to the failure of the family physician program in Minab City, the results can be helpful in providing many educational interventions for the trustees of this plan. To solve the challenges related to implementing the family physician plan program in Minab City, it is recommended to define the manpower required for the plan, hire more health workers or reduce the population covered per physician, clarify credits in the implementation of the program, allocate more credits and sufficient funds, explain the rules in the implementation of the program, implement laws, specify disciplines for physician, health workers, and the covered population; pay attention to the security of the program implementation system, integrate the security system, justify the trustees to use the security system, define a standard model for the implementation of the program, and use the rural family physician program as a role model.

Ethical Considerations
Compliance with ethical guidelines
Ethical approval for the present research was obtained from the Ethics Committee of Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran (Code: IR.SUMS.REC.1402.039).

Funding
This study was taken from the master's thesis of Samireh Fakhri, approved by the Department of Health and Medical Services Management, Faculty of Humanities, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvasht, Iran. 

Authors' contributions
All authors equally contribute to preparing all parts of the research.

Conflicts of interest
The authors declared conflicts of interest.

Acknowledgements
The authors are grateful to the Vice-Chancellor of Research, Marvdasht Branch, Islamic Azad University, Marvdasht, Iran. 


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