[Humanitarian medicine and commitment conditions of Luxemburgish doctors].

Introduction: Access to care is not guaranteed everywhere in the world and the commitment to humanitarian medicine aims to remedy it.
The main objective of the study was to analyze conditions of the practice of humanitarian medicine as a doctor practicing in Luxembourg.
Methods: A descriptive, quantitative and qualitative study was carried out in 2016. Every doctor practicing in Luxembourg was included for the quantitative study; doctors with at least one experience in humanitarian medicine were included in the qualitative study. A questionnaire was drawn up with the aim of studying the objective differences between the characteristics of «committed» and «uncommitted» doctors in humanitarian work. Partially-directed interviews made it possible to supplement the quantitative data and to collect the subjective point of view of the doctors concerned.
Results: 1750 doctors were contacted. 202 doctors surveyed, of whom 35 were engaged in humanitarian activities, had comparable demographic characteristics. The surgical specializations were more represented among humanitarian doctors, as well as the nature of the exercise: mixed (private practice and hospital) or in partnership. The interviews highlighted the physicians’ expected requirements concerning political conditions, NGOs, safety, finances, conditions of involvement and professional and personal skills necessary in terms of training and motivation.
Discussion: The study made it possible to draw up the conditions for the practice of humanitarian medicine while practicing in Luxembourg. It highlights avenues of improvement in order to encourage the involvement of doctors in humanitarian medicine.