Residents' Perspectives on Careers in Academic Medicine: Obstacles and Opportunities (original) (raw)

Why would I choose a career in family medicine?: Reflections of medical students at 3 universities

Canadian family physician Médecin de famille canadien, 2007

To describe the factors that medical students report influence them to pursue careers in family medicine. Qualitative study using focus groups and interviews and the results of surveys conducted at 3 different points in medical education. Three medical schools in western Canada: the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, the University of Calgary in Alberta, and the University of Alberta in Edmonton. A total of 33 medical students. Students were surveyed during the first 2 weeks of their programs, at the end of their preclinical training, and again at the end of their clinical training on their interest in family medicine or other specialty areas. Focus groups and interviews were conducted to explore the reasons students gave for an emerging or final interest in family medicine as a career choice. A small cohort of students who stayed with another specialty choice or switched to another specialty from family medicine were also interviewed. Thematic content analysis was carried...

Implications of demographic shifts for the future of family medicine education

Family medicine

Doctoral trained faculty educators increase faculty physicians' skills and capacities by implementing training and mentoring programs in academic primary care departments. The purpose of this study was to describe the characteristics, roles, challenges, and satisfaction of faculty educators working in departments of family medicine and to report perceptions of their work environment. The data for this study derive from a 2009 national survey of all full-time doctoral-level faculty members, including educators, working in US academic departments of family medicine. Items included demographics, roles, research output, financial support, and perceptions of the work environment. Descriptive statistics including means and percentages were used to compare public and private institutions. Twenty-five full-time faculty educators responded to the survey. Median age was 57 years; median years worked was 17, with 52% holding the rank of associate or full professor. Differences were observe...

Opportunities for medical student engagement with family medicine

Family medicine

Several factors have been linked to the decline in medical student choice of a career in primary care (eg, gender, race, family income, student debt), yet understanding remains limited regarding the availability of curricular and co-curricular experiences for medical students within family medicine that may play a role, particularly one-on-one opportunities such as faculty mentoring and advising. Our study sought to collect baseline data on family medicine learning experiences during predoctoral training. An online 21-question survey was sent to family medicine departments at US allopathic medical schools between January and March 2012 (84.6% response rate) to capture institutional representation and experiences within family medicine. Most institutions reported offering family medicine interest groups (98.1%), electives (97.1%), and clerkships (90.4%). Career advising as an elective course component was available at 53.8% of schools and as part of a required course at 46.2%. Compar...

Family medicine as a career option: how students' attitudes changed during medical school

Canadian family physician Médecin de famille canadien, 2007

To track and describe career choice decisions of medical students as they progressed through their undergraduate training. Quantitative survey of each class at 5 points during their undergraduate experience. Each survey collected qualitative descriptors of students' current career choices. Faculty of Medicine at Memorial University of Newfoundland in St John's. Undergraduate medical students in each year from 1999 to 2006. Number of students considering family medicine as a career option at 5 different data-collection points throughout the medical school curriculum. Many students considered family medicine as a career choice early in their undergraduate experience. The number of students considering family medicine dropped significantly during the second year of the curriculum. This trend was consistent across all students surveyed. Although interest in family medicine as a career rebounded later in the curriculum, it never fully recovered. A large percentage of medical stud...

Inspiring the next generation of academic physicians: the academic health careers program

Medical Education Online

There is growing evidence in the medical education literature for the aggressive need to recruit and retain the next generation of academic physicians. In 2008, the University of Kentucky College of Medicine (UK COM) developed an academic health careers (AHCs) program for preclinical medical students as an introduction into the practice of academic medicine. The goals of this elective experience included (1) highly customized training and mentorship experiences in research, teaching, and other aspects of academic medicine; (2) information and perspectives to assist students in making informed career choices, including options for academic careers; (3) access to academic career mentors and role models related to individual faculty research interests and teaching responsibilities; and (4) opportunities to network with UK COM administrators. This short communication provides a detailed overview of the AHC experiencealong with preliminary findings from a 2016-17 follow-up of program graduates exploring the program's role in their career aspirations and decisions.

Training Future Clinician-Educators: A Track for Family Medicine Residents

PubMed, 2016

Background and objectives: Despite a growing demand for skilled clinician-educators, residents today rarely receive formal training in clinical teaching, curriculum development, administration, leadership, or educational scholarship. The authors describe the development, implementation, and preliminary evaluation of the O'Connor Stanford Leaders in Education Residency (OSLER) track, a novel clinician-educator track within the family medicine residency program affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine. Methods: In 2010, the OSLER track was introduced at O'Connor Hospital, a community hospital that houses an 8-8-8 family medicine residency program. Residents who are in good standing can apply to the track at the midpoint of their first postgraduate year. Residents are immersed in a flexible, experience-based, 2.5-year-long curriculum with hands-on teaching activities at its core. To foster skills in educational scholarship, track residents are required to design and complete a scholarly project. Results: A comprehensive evaluation plan is currently in progress. Preliminary data indicates high levels of satisfaction with the track's overall value, impact on core teaching skills, and effect on career trajectory. Residents gained more confidence in core teaching skills as they progressed through the track. Scholarly work output by residents has increased significantly since the track was implemented. The residency program has seen an increased interest from applicants since the track was started, with data suggesting that applicant quality has increased from the pre-track to post-track years. Conclusions: More research is needed to assess the effectiveness and reproducibility of this clinician-educator track. If proven, this model may be replicated at other academic medical centers.

Choosing family medicine. What influences medical students?

Canadian family physician Médecin de famille canadien, 2003

To explore factors that influence senior medical students to pursue careers in family medicine. Qualitative study using semistructured interviews. University of Western Ontario (UWO) in London. Eleven of 29 graduating UWO medical students matched to Canadian family medicine residency programs beginning in July 2001. Eleven semistructured interviews were conducted with a maximum variation sample of medical students. Interviews were transcribed and reviewed independently, and a constant comparative approach was used by the team to analyze the data. Family physician mentors were an important influence on participants' decisions to pursue careers in family medicine. Participants followed one of three pathways to selecting family medicine: from an early decision to pursue family medicine, from initial uncertainty about career choice, or from an early decision to specialize and a change of mind. The perception of a wide scope of practice attracts candidates to family medicine. Having ...

Diversity and Inclusion in the Academic Medicine Workforce: Encouraging Medical Students and Residents to Consider Academic Careers

MedEdPORTAL, 2018

Introduction: The expansion of medical schools and increased faculty attrition call for heightened efforts to encourage medical students and residents to consider academic careers. As diversity serves as a driver of institutional excellence, special attention to the ongoing underrepresentation of certain groups in academia, such as racial and ethnic minorities, women, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals, is warranted. Methods: We developed a 90-minute workshop to raise medical student and resident awareness of academic medicine careers, and the benefits and challenges of having a diverse faculty. The workshop consists of a didactic PowerPoint presentation and a reflection exercise, shared in small-and large-group format, discussing facilitators and barriers to pursuing academia. The workshop was implemented at nine regional conferences. Results: There were 165 diverse participants. In comparing pre-and postworkshop responses of learners using the sample t test, there was a statistically significant increase in confidence to succeed in academic medicine given learners' gender (2.69 vs. 3.34, p < .001), race and ethnicity (2.53 vs. 3.24, p < .001), or sexual orientation (3.04 vs. 3.42, p < .001). Approximately 95% of learners felt that each of the workshop's learning objectives had been achieved. Participants considered the workshop to be enlightening, motivational, realistic, and validating. Discussion: This workshop was effective in providing an interactive format for medical students and residents to gain awareness of the state, benefits, and challenges of diversity and inclusion in academic medicine, and can affect their perception of being a future faculty member.

Medical students' perceptions of a career in family medicine

Israel journal of health policy research, 2018

In Israel, there is a shortage of family medicine (FM) specialists that is occasioned by a shortage of students pursuing a FM career. A questionnaire, based on methods adapted from marketing research, was used to provide insight into the medical specialty selection process. It was distributed to 6-year medical students from two Israeli medical schools. A response rate of 66% resulted in collecting 218 completed questionnaires. Nineteen of the students reported that they were interested in FM, 68% of them were women. When compared to students not interested in FM, the selection criteria of students interested in FM reflected greater interest in a bedside specialty which provides direct long-term patient care. These latter students were also more interested in a controllable lifestyle that allowed time to be with family and children and working outside the hospital especially during the daytime. These selection criteria aligned with their perceptions of FM, which they perceived as pro...