• E Y Yen, P T Dowling, I Liu, and E Lee.
• Department of Family Medicine, Harbor-UCLA Family Health Center, Torrance, USA.
• Fam Med. 1997 Mar 1; 29 (3): 199-203.

Background And ObjectivesThe Harbor-UCLA Family Practice Residency Program has offered a year-long primary care continuity clinic experience to first-year obstetrics-gynecology (OB-GYN) residents since July 1994. This paper describes the teaching programs and compares the experience of the OB-GYN residents to that of family practice (FP) residents in the same clinic site.MethodsOB-GYN residents worked in the family medicine teaching clinic for a half day each week for the entire year. The teaching program was evaluated with a questionnaire and interviews of OB-GYN residents to obtain their opinions on the value of this teaching modality. A review of clinic schedules and medical records compared the practice profiles of six OB-GYN residents with six matched FP residents.ResultsFive out of six OB-GYN residents felt that the educational objective of improving primary care skills was achieved. Half of them were pleased about their relationships with the family medicine faculty; the remainder reported being treated as second-class citizens. Patient volume and the diagnosis encountered were similar between the OB-GYN residents and the FP residents.ConclusionsEvaluation of the primary care continuity clinic experience for OB-GYN residents through questionnaires, interviews, and medical records analysis revealed the acceptability, feasibility, and appropriateness of this teaching program for OB-GYN residents. However, not all OB-GYN residents were happy about their relationships with the family medicine faculty. The long-term effectiveness of the experience needs further study.

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