Family medicine
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Encouraging resident scholarly activity has been a longstanding challenge for medical educators. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) has been increasing its emphasis on scholarly activity, forcing programs to evaluate their existing processes. This study sought to evaluate the impact of a scholarly activity point system on the resident scholarly productivity at multiple programs. ⋯ A scholarly activity point system was associated with an increase in resident scholarly production in family medicine programs. It appears to work best in programs that start from a lower level of scholarly productivity at baseline. A point system appears to be a useful addition to scholarly activity curricula.
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Reducing the shortage of primary care physicians in sub-Saharan Africa requires expansion of training programs in family medicine. Challenges remain in preparing, recruiting, and retaining faculty qualified to teach in these pioneering programs. Little is known about the unique faculty development needs of family medicine faculty within the sub-Saharan African context. The purpose of this study was to assess the current status and future needs for developing robust family medicine faculty in sub-Saharan Africa. The results are reported in two companion articles. ⋯ Sub-Saharan African family physicians and postgraduate trainee physicians value good teachers and recognize that clinical training alone does not provide all of the skills needed by educators. The current status of limited resources of institutions and individuals constrain faculty development efforts. Where faculty development opportunities do exist, they are too infrequent or otherwise inaccessible to provide trainers the necessary skills to help them succeed as educators.
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High-quality family medicine education is needed in sub-Saharan Africa to facilitate the future growth of primary care health systems. Current faculty educators recognize the value of dedicated teacher training and ongoing faculty development. However, they are constrained by inadequate faculty development program availability and institutional support. ⋯ High-quality faculty development in family medicine is critically important to the primary care workforce in sub-Saharan Africa. Our study describes specific needs and recommendations for family medicine faculty development in sub-Saharan Africa. Next steps include piloting and evaluating innovative models of faculty development that respond to specific institutional or regional needs.
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Group prenatal care has been shown to improve both maternal and neonatal outcomes. With increasing adaption of group prenatal care by family medicine residencies, this model may serve as a potential method to increase exposure to and interest in maternity care among trainees. This study aims to describe the penetration, regional and program variations, and potential impacts on future maternity care practice of group prenatal care in US family medicine residencies. ⋯ Residency programs with group prenatal care models report more graduates entering OB fellowships and practicing maternity care. Implementing group prenatal care in residency training can be one method in a multifaceted approach to increasing maternity care practice among US family physicians.
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Progress toward growing the primary care workforce is at risk of being derailed by an emerging crisis: a critical shortage of family medicine faculty. In response to the faculty shortage, the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) launched a 2-year initiative called "Faculty for Tomorrow" (F4T). The F4T Task Force created a workshop designed to increase residents' interest in, and prepare them for, careers in academic family medicine. We aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of this workshop. ⋯ The STFM F4T Resident Workshop was effective at increasing participants' interest in academic careers, as well as self-reported confidence in skills and knowledge relevant to becoming faculty. The data collected from participants regarding their career plans may inform future interventions.