Family medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Medical school application essays and specialty choice.
To identify factors that could be used to predict physician specialty selection at the level of admissions to medical school. ⋯ Contact with a specialty prior to entering medical school may be a significant predictor of the prospective student's eventual specialty selection. However, goals mentioned in the statements are not predictors of specialty choice.
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This study examined longitudinal relationships between attitudes and career choice in family practice from admission to medical school through the end of internship. ⋯ Although attitudes toward family practice remained positive throughout the 5-year study, student interest in family practice declined during the clinical years. Women maintained stronger interests in family practice than men; the reasons for this are not clear. Attitudes were poor predictors of choice. Care is needed in interpreting cross-sectional studies reporting significant relationships. We need to develop more sensitive attitude measures to improve the predictive validity of attitude measurement scales.
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The annual meetings of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) and the North American Primary Care Research Group (NAPCRG) are important peer-reviewed venues for family medicine academicians to present their research. However, a relatively small number of individuals actually hear each presentation. In order to permanently share their research with a large number of peers, these presenters need to take the next step and publish completed manuscripts. This study examined the frequency with which presentations at these meetings are eventually published. ⋯ Approximately half of the presentations at STFM and NAPCRG annual meeting are published within 4 to 5 years. This is consistent with publication rates found for other specialty meetings. The reasons for not publishing are numerous and need to be better elucidated to help family medicine academicians complete the research loop and disseminate their findings to the scientific community.
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Family medicine fellowship training has increased in extent and diversity over the past 15 years. We conducted a national survey to study the present status of fellowship training in our discipline. ⋯ Fellowship training in family medicine offers a wide variety of opportunities for career development, but this data suggests that there are areas in which special attention should be placed to facilitate the most appropriate advancement of fellowship training in our discipline.