Alavi Mustafa, Ho Tiffany, Stisher Chandler, Richardson Emma, Kelly Christina, McCrory KrisEmily, Snellings John, Zurek Katie, Boltz Mandy Ward
Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR.
Swedish Family Medicine Residency at Cherry Hill, Seattle, WA.
Fam Med. 2019 Feb;51(2):143-148. doi: 10.22454/FamMed.2019.927833.
The Family Medicine for America's Health Workforce and Education Team aims to increase the number of medical students choosing family medicine to address the projected primary care physician shortage. This aim can be achieved by developing a well-trained primary care workforce. Our student- and resident-led FMAHealth work group aimed to identify factors that influenced fourth-year medical students' choice to become family physicians. The secondary objective compared such factors between the 10 medical schools with the highest percentage of students matching into family medicine and non-top 10 medical schools.
Fourth-year medical students nationwide participated in 90-minute virtual focus groups. Reviewers coded deidentified transcriptions and identified key themes and subthemes that were found to influence student choice.
Fifty-five medical students participated in focus groups over a 2-year period. Three key themes were found to influence students: perspective, choice, and exposure. Subthemes included: (1) the importance of high-quality preceptors practicing full-scope family medicine, (2) the value of a rural experience, and (3) institutional support to pursue family medicine. Physician compensation and loan repayment concerns were not major factors influencing student choice.
Many factors influence student choice of family medicine including preceptors, clinical exposures, and institutional support. These factors varied by institution and many were found to be different between top 10 and non-top 10 schools. Addressing these factors will help increase students' choice of family medicine and reduce the primary care shortage.
美国健康劳动力与教育家庭医学团队旨在增加选择家庭医学的医学生数量，以应对预计的初级保健医生短缺问题。这一目标可通过培养训练有素的初级保健劳动力来实现。我们由学生和住院医师主导的FMAHealth工作小组旨在确定影响四年级医学生选择成为家庭医生的因素。次要目标是比较学生匹配进入家庭医学比例最高的10所医学院校与非前十医学院校之间的此类因素。
全国四年级医学生参加了90分钟的虚拟焦点小组讨论。评审人员对匿名转录本进行编码，并确定发现会影响学生选择的关键主题和子主题。
在两年时间里，55名医学生参加了焦点小组讨论。发现有三个关键主题影响学生：观点、选择和接触。子主题包括：（1）高质量的从事全面家庭医学实践的带教老师的重要性，（2）农村经历的价值，以及（3）追求家庭医学的机构支持。医生薪酬和贷款偿还问题不是影响学生选择的主要因素。
许多因素影响学生对家庭医学的选择，包括带教老师、临床接触和机构支持。这些因素因机构而异，并且发现前十和非前十学校之间存在许多不同。解决这些因素将有助于增加学生对家庭医学的选择，并减少初级保健短缺。
