RESUMEN
OBJECTIVE: To find out how experienced primary care physicians working in different societies see themselves as doctors. DESIGN: A cross-sectional study. SETTING: Primary health care in Estonia and Finland. PARTICIPANTS: Estonian district doctors (n = 110) and Finnish specialists of general practice (n = 211). METHODS: In a postal questionnaire the respondents were asked to evaluate how well 18 different expressions described them as doctors on a 5-step scale from "1 = very poorly" to "5 = very well". RESULTS: Four of the five expressions that were thought most accurate and telling--"Listener", "Vocational doctor", "Helper", and "Family physician"--were the same in Estonia and Finland. CONCLUSIONS: Even though there are differences in health care systems, the self-images of primary care doctors in both countries were more or less consistent with the international definitions of the general practitioner's job and role.