October 5, 2001
AAFP takes proactive approach to bolstering student interest, resident training
Granted, academic family medicine has seen better days. The recent decline in student interest in the specialty and uncertainty about the fate of Title VII funding for family practice training, in particular, have taken their toll.
But there's no reason to lose hope for the future, say Academy leaders.
In a September letter to leaders in academic family medicine, President Richard Roberts, M.D., J.D., of Madison, Wis., laid out steps AAFP has taken to date to address these issues. Here are but a few of those activities:
- Formation of the Commission on Resident and Student Issues. CRSI is charged with analyzing data and trends related to medical student interest in family practice, investigating the effectiveness of current family practice resident and student initiatives, and making recommendations regarding current and future activities in these areas. The commission replaces the Task Force on Student Interest and Committee on Resident and Student Affairs.
- Student interest study. AAFP has commissioned a $50,000 study by the University of Arizona. The project is designed to evaluate the environment and attitudes of today's medical student, with an eye toward bolstering student interest in family practice as a career choice. Results of the study are expected by the end of the year.
- Commission on Education student interest retreat. A half-day focused discussion by the COE in June resulted in five Board recommendations to increase interest in the specialty. Those recommendations range from naming quality in residency education as a priority, to promoting the training and support of FP role models to disseminate positive messages about the specialty to medical students. The recommendations will be acted on during the January 2002 cluster meeting.
- Title VII lobbying efforts. AAFP continues its several-year tradition of banding with the organizations of academic family medicine to appeal to lawmakers -- asking them not only to preserve but also to up the ante of funding for family practice training. This year, about 50 FPs descended on Washington to protest President George W. Bush's proposal to zero out Title VII family practice grants in his 2002 budget.
In concluding his letter, Roberts outlined three choices FPs have in responding to current challenges to the specialty. "We can stop doing what we do," he said, "we can continue doing what we do and complain that things are not as good as we would like, or we can change what we do to better meet the needs of the people we serve and teach.
"I choose the path of change, confident in our future. I hope you will join me on this path." *
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department.
Copyright © 2001 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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