• Bich-May Nguyen, Winston Liaw, Molly E Polverento, Julie P Phillips, Andrea L Wendling, Christopher P Morley, Virginia Young, Iris Kovar-Gough, and Jacob Prunuske.
• University of Houston Tilman J. Fertitta Family College of Medicine, Houston, TX.
• Fam Med. 2022 Jul 1; 54 (7): 572-577.

Background And ObjectivesEducational components and electives that may influence medical student choice of primary care careers have been studied individually, but not reviewed or synthesized. Examining educational components and electives in a comprehensive manner may inform evidence-based approaches to raise the number of primary care physicians in the United States and help optimize use of finite resources. We sought to determine evidence-based educational components and electives associated with increased medical student choice of primary care careers.MethodsWe searched PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL for undergraduate medical education articles in English describing an educational component or elective and outcome relevant to primary care specialty choice. We assessed titles, then abstracts, and finally full texts for inclusion in a narrative synthesis.ResultsThe searches returned 11,211 articles and we found 42 that met the inclusion criteria. The most described components were outpatient clinical rotations, preclinical courses, and preceptorships. The most common electives were international health, summer preceptorships, and rural medicine. While most articles described curricula that appeared to have a positive correlation with primary care specialty choice, six articles found limited benefit. In sum, results were mixed.ConclusionsThe current literature is limited, and many contemporary electives have not been studied with respect to primary care choice. Increased attention and funding to studying the impact of electives and other educational components on primary care specialty choice is warranted.

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