Family medicine
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The American Osteopathic Association (AOA) agreed to combine its graduate medical education programs with the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) between July 1, 2015 and June 30, 2020 in an initiative called the Single Accreditation System (SAS). The objective of our study was to identify the impact the SAS had on the ACGME, family medicine (FM), and implications for the future of FM. ⋯ The SAS has shifted the balance in the percentages of MDs, DOs, and international medical graduates (IMGs) in FM. Trends in FM show that as more DOs enter the NRMP the percent of MDs and IMGs decreases. In the future, it is projected that DOs will outnumber MDs and IMGs in ACGME FM residencies. The 51 new medical schools started between 2010 and 2020 will generate a test for the integration of their graduates into GME. Increased competition for FM residencies is expected.
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Although burnout in medicine-particularly medical education-represents an ongoing problem, relatively few studies have established longitudinal connections between burnout and risk factors. Establishment of specific causal links and risk factors will determine important curriculum changes to reduce the risk of burnout in medical learners. Our study aimed to explore links between emotion regulation skill (strategies individuals use to regulate emotional experiences and responses to stress) and vulnerability to burnout using a longitudinal design in one family medicine residency program. ⋯ Difficulties with emotion regulation predicted personal burnout in this small sample. This finding dovetails with cross-sectional data in the literature. Although further mechanisms contributing to burnout should be explored, this finding suggests that direct instruction in adaptive emotion regulation strategies delivered early in medical education could provide significant downstream benefits for family medicine residents.