Family medicine
-
Despite increasing numbers of faculty identifying as underrepresented in medicine (URiM) over the last few decades, URiM representation in academic medicine leadership has changed little. The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine funded the Leadership Through Scholarship Fellowship (LTSF) to target this population and provide a framework for scholarly success. Based on responses to open-ended questions from a leadership survey, we characterize how early-career URiM family medicine faculty view leadership and assess attitudes and perceptions of leadership development. ⋯ These themes represent lessons learned from URiM faculty participating in a single faculty development fellowship. Collaborative scholarship, both as an early-career faculty need and a leadership responsibility, is a new contribution to the existing literature. While identified by URiM family medicine faculty, these themes are likely familiar to early-career faculty across all medical specialties and faculty identities. These lessons can guide senior academic leaders in preparing early-career faculty for leadership in academic medicine.
-
As application to residency programs becomes increasingly competitive, educational leaders face growing student concern about imprecise clinical assessments and clerkship grades. ⋯ Clerkship grades are widely used by residency program directors to classify and differentiate student applicants. We identified a significant concern from FMCDs that clinical evaluation ratings can vary greatly. Given the high stakes and perceived inaccuracy of clerkship grading, we recommend continued investigation into the appropriate weighing and usage of clinical evaluations. Continued exploration is recommended to develop grading paradigms centered on criterion-based assessment.
-
Recognition of the need for medical education to train physicians who are skilled at supporting population health and work beyond traditional health care settings is growing. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) for medical students typically have centered around activities taking place in the clinical workplace; however, EPAs that involve working with community members in community contexts have not been clearly established. ⋯ The identified community-based tasks can support the augmentation of existing community-based curriculum and help identify areas for novel curriculum and assessment development. Lessons learned from this local effort could be helpful to other programs seeking to establish and refine community-based curricula.
-
Assessing suicide risk in primary care settings has become standard practice; however, the emotional toll on medical providers remains understudied. This qualitative study examines the emotional impact of suicide assessments among family medicine residents. ⋯ Despite claims of emotional detachment, participants often expressed surprise and vulnerability when faced with suicidal patients. With suicide screening becoming increasingly vital in primary care, understanding and mitigating the emotional impact on physicians is essential. Future research should explore strategies to support medical providers in navigating these challenging interactions effectively for both the patients and themselves.
-
The number of family medicine positions unfilled in the Main Match has increased from 2019 to 2023. In the 2023-2024 family medicine application season, the specialty adopted the changes in the Electronic Residency Application Service (ERAS or MyERAS), which included geographic preferences and offered applicants five program signals. We compared the number of unfilled positions from prior years to results of the 2024 family medicine Match after the adoption of these changes. ⋯ MyERAS changes in the 2023-2024 family medicine application season, including geographic preferences and program signaling, were not associated with a change in the number of programs or positions filled in the family medicine Main Match.