Family medicine
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Antibiotic misuse contributes to antibiotic resistance and is a growing public health threat in the United States and globally. Professional medical societies promote antibiotic stewardship education for medical students, ideally before inappropriate practice habits form. To our knowledge, no tools exist to assess medical student competency in antibiotic stewardship and the communication skills necessary to engage patients in this endeavor. The aim of this study was to develop a novel instrument to measure medical students' communication skills and competency in antibiotic stewardship and patient counseling. ⋯ Similar results at both schools supported external validity. The instrument performed reliably at both institutions under different examination conditions, providing evidence for the validity and utility of this instrument in assessing medical students' skills related to antibiotic stewardship.
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Medical students who train in rural communities are often exposed to physicians practicing a broad scope of care, regardless of discipline. We examined how rural education is associated with practice specialization rates for students who match in primary care or general core specialties. ⋯ Rurally-trained graduates are more likely to practice primary care, chiefly due to increased likelihood of choosing a FM residency. Graduates entering PC or general core residencies subspecialize at similar rates regardless of rural or urban education. FM residency match rate may be the best predictor of long-lasting impact on the primary care workforce.