Opportunities for medical student engagement with family medicine (original) (raw)

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...

Cultivating interest in family medicine: family medicine interest group reaches undergraduate medical students

Canadian family physician Médecin de famille canadien, 2007

Fewer medical students are choosing careers in family medicine across Canada. One way to cultivate student interest is through creation of family medicine interest groups. Students, residents, community-based family physicians, and academic faculty can all contribute to the success of such groups. A family medicine interest group provides information about the challenging and rewarding career of family medicine through medical students' exposure to family physicians and residents. A group of faculty and undergraduate students combined forces to form the Family Medicine Club. Development of this group and results of evaluation of its effectiveness to date are discussed. One mechanism to increase interest in primary care as a career is to initiate and foster a family medicine interest group that links students with family physicians.

Interest in Family Medicine Among US Medical Students and Its Association With a Community College Academic Pathway Efrain

Family medicine, 2017

One-third of all medical students attend a community college (CC) on their path to medical school. The objective of this study was to examine the association between CC participation and initial specialty of interest among US allopathic medical students. We performed a national cross-sectional study of allopathic medical students who completed the 2012 Association of American Medical Colleges' Matriculating Student Questionnaire. Bivariate and logistic regression analyses were conducted. A total of 9,885 medical student respondents were included in the study sample, consisting of 7,035 (71%) non-CC pathway, and 2,850 (29%) CC pathway participants. CC pathway participants were more likely to express intent to specialize in family medicine (272/2,850 [10%] vs 463/7,035 [7%], P<.001), compared to those on the non-CC path. CC pathway participants had higher odds of intent to specialize in family medicine (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=1.32; 95% CI 1.13-1.56, P<0.001), compared to ...

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 ...

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...

Family Medicine Preceptorships for First Year Medical Students: Durable Educational Value Amid Healthcare Transformation

Journal of Regional Medical Campuses

In existence for decades, the first year required Family Medicine Preceptorship at the Duluth regional campus of the University of Minnesota Medical School has provided students with opportunities to work with regional family physicians. Exposing medical students to excellent primary care of patients early in the curriculum remains an educational priority. This time series analysis for the years 1992, 2002 and 2012 examines the physician’s practice structure (physician-owner versus employed physician) along with physician willingness to participate. As anticipated, the data demonstrate a transition from independent practice to larger health systems; physicians in large health systems at 22.9% (1992); 28.8% (2002); and 64.3% (2012). In addition, a downward trend in the percentage of physicians agreeing to serve as preceptors is reported (1992 at 83.61%; 2002 at 70.97%; and 2012 at 61.22%). This time series analysis also provides comparative data summarizing student opinion and eval...

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...

A suggested fourth-year curriculum for medical students planning on entering family medicine

Family medicine, 2004

Students interested in a family medicine residency often seek advice about what electives to take in their final year of medical school. This study sought to develop a consensus about what rotations to recommend and what essential skills students should possess before starting their family medicine residency. We conducted Delphi studies with panels of experienced community- and university-based family medicine residency directors and predoctoral educators in departments of family medicine at US medical schools. Each group participated in a three-phase Delphi process that asked each member to identify potential rotations and skills and then narrowed the list to those of the highest priority. Both the residency directors and predoctoral educators recommended that students participate in an ambulatory family medicine month in their fourth year of medical school, along with electives in emergency medicine, dermatology, obstetrics, and an acting internship (subinternship) in internal med...