Career advising in family medicine: a theoretical framework for structuring the medical student/faculty advisor interview.

BACKGROUND

There are unique challenges to recruiting students into the specialty of family medicine within academic medical centers.

METHODS

At Virginia Commonwealth University, we developed an advising framework to help students address institutional and personal obstacles to choosing family medicine as a career.

RESULTS

The role of a faculty advisor is not to direct the student to a career choice but rather to foster a mentor relationship and help the student come to his or her own realizations regarding career choice. The faculty advisor/medical student interview is conceptualized as five discussion topics: self-knowledge, perception, organizational voice, cognitive dissonance, and anticipatory counseling.

CONCLUSION

This framework is intended to assist faculty in their efforts to encourage students to consider a career in family medicine.