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Ordinary musicians are a relatively hard to find population. Based on the results of the research project Musicians’ LIVES carried out between 2012 and 2015, this article presents the working situation of performing musicians in French speaking Switzerland. We compare the social characteristics of the musicians with the active population. We then analyse musicians’ relationship to work and examine the composition of their income. Three main ways of being a musician in Western Switzerland are presented: the “craftsman,” the “teacher” and the “artist.”

Background: Lower respiratory tract infections (LRTIs) in primary care are a promising target for antibiotic stewardship. A clinical trial in Switzerland showed a large decrease in antibiotic prescriptions with procalcitonin guidance (cut-off < 0.25 µg/L) compared with usual care. However, one-third of patients with low procalcitonin at baseline received antibiotics by day 28., Aim: To explore the factors associated with the overruling of initial procalcitonin guidance., Design and Setting: Secondary analysis of a cluster randomized trial in which patients with an LRTI were included., Method: Using the characteristics of patients, their disease, and general practitioners (GPs), we conducted a multivariate logistic regression, adjusted for clustering., Results: Ninety-five out of 301 (32%) patients with low procalcitonin received antibiotics by day 28. Factors associated with an overruling of procalcitonin guidance were: a history of chest pain (adjusted OR [aOR] 1.81, 95% confidence interval 1.03-3.17); a prescription of chest X-ray by the GP (aOR 4.65, 2.32-9.34); a C-reactive protein measured retrospectively above 100 mg/L (aOR 7.48, 2.34-23.93, reference ≤ 20 mg/L); the location of the GP practice in an urban setting (aOR 2.27, 1.18-4.37); and the GP's number of years of experience (aOR per year 1.05, 1.01-1.09)., Conclusions: Overruling of procalcitonin guidance was associated with GPs' socio-demographic characteristics, pointing to the general behavioral problem of overprescription by physicians. Continuous medical education and communication training might support the successful implementation of procalcitonin point-of-care tests aimed at antibiotic stewardship.