Experiences of family medicine resident physicians at a university hospital during the 2023 Türkiye earthquake: a qualitative study

The 2023 Türkiye Earthquake caused widespread devastation and disrupted healthcare services. Family medicine resident physicians occupied the overlapping positions of disaster survivor and care provider, yet the meaning of this dual experience remains underexplored. To interpret how family medicine resident physicians made sense of the emotional, professional, and ethical challenges they experienced while providing care after the earthquake. An interpretive (hermeneutic) phenomenological study conducted at a university hospital in Adana, Türkiye. Twenty family medicine resident physicians participated in semi-structured, in-depth interviews between January 19, 2024, and January 7, 2025. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and examined using thematic analysis within an interpretive phenomenological orientation. Investigator reflexivity, field notes, team-based interpretive discussion, participant validation, and bilingual checking supported trustworthiness. Reporting followed the Consolidated Criteria for Reporting Qualitative Research (COREQ). Two main themes were developed: (1) existential disruption and contested professional duty, and (2) movement from clinical unpreparedness to systemic reappraisal. Residents’ accounts showed that threats to personal and family safety destabilized assumptions about duty and professional identity. Unfamiliar clinical assignments and disrupted organizational systems prompted residents to redefine competent disaster practice as embodied, team-based, and ethically supported rather than primarily theoretical. The findings suggest that disaster preparedness for resident physicians should combine practical training with psychological support and workforce policies that recognize clinicians may also be disaster survivors. These interpretive findings may inform comparable training settings, while transferability should be judged in light of local health-system and disaster contexts.