Family medicine
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Family practice residents and students receive substantial teaching from senior residents. Yet, we lack data about residents' needs for teaching skills development, particularly in generalist training. This multicenter, interdisciplinary study describes the learning needs of generalist residents for becoming more effective teachers. ⋯ Generalist residents fulfill important roles as practical clinical teachers and role models for junior learners. Future research should address how resident teachers affect learners' clinical skills, academic performance, and professionalism.
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Comparative Study
The increase in international medical graduates in family practice residency programs.
The number of filled positions in family practice residency programs decreased by 18.6% from 1997-2001. This study sought to determine the degree of reliance on international medical graduates (IMGs) to fill family practice residency positions and the relative proportion of US citizen IMGs. ⋯ Family practice is becoming increasingly reliant on IMGs to fill residency positions.
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Title VII predoctoral and departmental grants for departments of family medicine are intended to increase the number of family and primary care physicians in the United States and increase the number of practices in rural and underserved communities. This study assessed the relationships of Title VII funding with physicians' choices of practice specialty and location. ⋯ Title VII has been successful in achieving its stated goals and legislative intent and has had an important role in addressing US physician workforce policy issues.
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Patients' health literacy is increasingly recognized as a critical factor affecting patient-physician communication and health outcomes. We reviewed research on health literacy, examined its impact on patient-physician communication, and offer recommendations to enhance communication with patients who have poor health literacy. ⋯ Future research needs to address identification of optimal methods for communicating with patients who have low literacy skills. This should focus on the effect of poor health literacy on patients' ability to communicate their history and physicians' ability to solicit information, as well as identifying the most-effective techniques to educate patients.
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Many researchers in family medicine use surveys to gather data from colleagues, learners, and patients on their demographics, personal histories, knowledge, behaviors, and attitudes. Well-written surveys are easy for respondents to complete, gather information accurately and consistently, and obtain data that can be analyzed to answer research questions. All levels of family medicine researchers can follow eight steps to develop surveys that produce useful and publishable results: (1) state the problem or need, (2) plan the project, (3) state the research question, (4) review the literature, (5) develop or adapt existing survey items, (6) construct the survey, (7) conduct pilot tests, and (8) administer the survey. After completing this article, readers should be able to (1) state the appropriate uses of survey instruments as research tools and (2) construct and administer a well-designed survey instrument.