Family medicine
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The opioid epidemic highlights the importance of evidence-based practices in the management of chronic pain and the need for improved resident education focused on chronic pain treatment and controlled substance use. We present the development, implementation, and outcomes of a novel, long-standing interprofessional safe prescribing committee (SPC) and resulting policy, protocol, and longitudinal curriculum to address patient care and educational gaps in chronic pain management for residents in training. ⋯ Our study illustrates the effectiveness of an interprofessional committee in lowering prescribed opioid doses and enhancing chronic pain education in a community-based residency setting.
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Updated 2018 prostate cancer screening guidelines recommend informed decision-making discussions, which should include education on prostate cancer's disproportionate impact on Black men. It is unknown whether academic family physicians follow these guidelines. ⋯ Most academic family physicians do not appropriately inform Black men of increased prostate cancer risk, with younger physicians less likely to discuss race than older physicians. Female physicians, and physicians who see fewer Black patients, are less likely to have shared decision-making conversations with Black patients. This suggests educational efforts for these groups are needed to address health disparities in prostate cancer.
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Discussions of scope of practice among family physicians has become a crucial topic amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, coupled with new attention to residency training requirements. Family medicine has seen a gradual narrowing of practice due to a host of issues, including physician choice, expanding scope of practice from physician assistants and nurses, an increased emphasis on patient volume, clinical revenue, and residency training competency requirements. We sought to demonstrate the flexibility of the family medicine workforce as shown through their scopes of practice, and argue that this is indication of their potential for redeployment during emergencies. ⋯ Family physicians are a potential resource for emergency redeployment, however the current breadth of scope for most family physicians is not aligned with current residency training requirements and raises questions about the future of family medicine scope of practice.