2011 Match

Family Medicine Gains 133 U.S. Medical School Graduates in 2011 Residency Match -- Family medicine residency training programs this year attracted 1,317 U.S. medical school graduates to the specialty — an increase of 133 over 2010 — according to the National Residency Matching Program results announced today.

Council on Graduate Medical Education 20th Report, "Advancing Primary Care" -- COGME calls for “dramatic” and swift changes in policies to increase the supply of primary care physicians “to at least 40 percent from the current level of 32 percent” and to raise the average incomes of primary care physicians to “at least 70 percent of median incomes of all other physicians.” The report also calls on medical schools to strategically change “the processes of medical student and resident selection” and to change the educational environment “to foster a physician workforce of at least 40 percent primary care physicians.”
(18-page PDF file; About PDFs)

Graduate Medical Education: The Key to the Future of Primary Care? -- This policy brief published by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services calls for modifying graduate medical education funding, including additional hospital payments for primary care residents, modified rules that recognize and offer incentives for community-based training, and direct incentive payments to primary care residents.
(1-page PDF file; About PDFs)

Medical Education Expansion and the Future of Primary Care -- This policy brief by the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services says expanded medical school capacity will do little to resolve the primary care physician shortage without programs that promote primary care. Among recommended policies: medical school admission policies that favor applicants with primary care interests, and expansion of scholarship and loan repayment programs that promote primary care specialty choice.
(2-page PDF file; About PDFs)

Rural Origins and Choosing Family Medicine Predict Future Rural Practice -- This one-page summary by the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Primary Care and Family Medicine looks at meeting the needs of underserved populations and summarizes research that shows medical students who were born in a rural county and who choose family medicine are most likely to return to rural areas to practice medicine.
(2-page PDF file; About PDFs)

A Recipe for Medical Schools to Produce Primary Care -- This New England Journal of Medicine article by Stephen R. Smith, M.D., M.P.H., of the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, Providence, R.I., notes, “Our country would be better served if an adequate supply of primary care services were available. Health care systems that rely too much on specialty care services are less efficient and more expensive than their counterparts that are focused on primary care.” Smith outlines the contours of medical school admissions policies, curriculum development and training opportunities that will encourage more students to become primary care physicians.
(2-page PDF file; About PDFs)

What Influences Medical Student and Resident Choices? -- This in-depth report by the Robert Graham Center for Policy Studies in Primary Care and Family Medicine and the Macy Foundation incorporates nearly 20 years of survey data from graduating medical students and identifies measurable characteristics, intentions, and training experiences that are significant predictors of who chooses primary medical care specialties. Among them: rural birth, interest in serving underserved or minority populations, exposure to Title VII in medical school and rural or inner-city training experiences.
(102-page PDF file; About PDFs)

State Legislative Activity Addressing Physician Workforce -- States have worked to alleviate the primary care physician shortages within their borders. This year, several bills have been introduced to address the problem, and in 2010, several states passed legislation assessing physician workforce resources and funding assistance for medical education students or recent graduates. This document describes those bills and new laws.
(2-page PDF file; About PDFs)

Family Medicine Interest Groups provide effective outreach to students -- This network of organizations working to educate medical students about family medicine is among the most effective ways of encouraging more graduates to become family physicians.