Family medicine
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The family medicine (FM) approach to health care across the life span is well-suited to providing care for persons living with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Little is known about ASD curricula in FM residency training and the characteristics of FM residency programs that prepare their residents to care for persons with this disorder. ⋯ Most FM PDs modestly agreed that they are preparing residents to provide care to patients with ASD and their families. PDs of programs with greater access to resources (ie, published curriculum, faculty champions, sufficient patients with ASD, interprofessional faculty experts) believed that their residents were more prepared. Community-based FM educators may help lead the way in providing models for care and education in this regard.
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Continuity of care has been an identifying characteristic of family medicine since its inception and is an essential ingredient for high-functioning health care teams. Many benefits, including the quadruple aim of enhancing patient experience, improving population health, reducing costs, and improving care team well-being, are ascribed to continuity of care. In 2023, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) added two new continuity requirements-annual patient-sided continuity and annual resident-sided continuity-in family medicine training programs. ⋯ The recent ACGME requirements represent a cultural shift from measuring resident experience based on volume to measuring resident continuity. This cultural shift forces family medicine training programs to adapt their various systems, policies, and procedures to emphasize continuity. We hope this manuscript's review of several facets of contuinuity, some unique to training programs, helps programs ensure compliance with the ACGME requirements.
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Previous research has described a waning interest among third-year students to employ empathetic practice along with decreased opportunity to develop empathic communication skills. In this study we sought to address this decline using the skill of noticing (ie, the capacity to attune to specific aspects of practice and interactions) as an intervention for third-year medical students. ⋯ The use of SENT helped students notice empathy or lack thereof. However, making connections between individual capacity for empathic interactions and the impact of positive or negative role models is necessary. Based on our findings, we encourage the need for shared responsibility among students, faculty and preceptors, and organizations.