Chapters Key in Attracting Students to Specialty

Reach out and pull them in. That's the mantra of AAFP constituent chapters in states where between 20 percent and 40 percent of medical school graduates choose family medicine.

How is this success possible? The chapters foster opportunities for student leadership development, tailor mentoring relationships to student needs and collaborate with FMIG programs, said three chapter executives. Other key elements: willingness to send students to the National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students and to recruit students to participate in chapter leadership.

The executives -- Esther Rae Barr, C.A.E., of the Maryland AFP; Carolyn Gaughan, C.A.E., of the Kansas AFP; and John Jordan, C.A.E., of the Pennsylvania AFP -- shared their programs during "Student Interest Programming: Beg, Borrow and Steal Ideas That Work" May 7 at AAFP's Annual Leadership Forum in Kansas City, Mo.

"It takes a lot of dedicated faculty, a wonderful department chair and the larger community of family physicians" to foster a successful student interest program, Gaughan said.

The Kansas chapter works closely with the two University of Kansas School of Medicine campuses in placing students with community-based FPs. The school's immersion project, which matches 30 medical students with family physicians for an entire summer, has significant success: 70 percent of those who participate opt for family medicine, said Gaughan.

In addition, a member and the president of the FMIG programs on each of the two KU medical campuses attend Kansas AFP Board of Directors meetings. One student serves as a voting board member.

"We pay them a stipend to attend out-of-town board meetings, and board members listen carefully to their input, whether they are the voting member or not," she said. "They are an integral part of our board of directors."

Equally important: The Kansas chapter's foundation provides $3,000 for National Conference scholarships.

Likewise, a medical student has a seat on the Pennsylvania AFP Board of Directors, "and we've never turned down a student who requests going to the National Conference," said Jordan.

A good move, says Jay Fetter, manager of the AAFP Student Interest Initiative, who moderated the discussion panel. A recent study in Nebraska showed that 68 percent of students who attend the National Conference choose family medicine, he said.

Pennsylvania augments AAFP's National Conference with a special focus on medical students at its own annual family medicine conference, said Jordan. The key to drawing medical students, said Jordan, was providing hands-on clinical sessions -- such as suturing, casting and Doppler demonstrations -- that complement the students' academic experience.

Successful chapters also recognize that mentoring -- seen as vital to attracting and keeping student interest in family medicine -- comes in many forms, said Barr. The first step, she said, is promoting mentoring to community FPs and helping them identify the circumstances in which they can be the best role models.

"We match mentors and students in the right kind of mentoring relationships," she said. "For some, having students in the practice for a week may not work as well as having them over for dinner."

Judith Chamberlain, M.D., of Brunswick, Maine, a member of the AAFP Board of Directors, agreed. "We don't have a student see every patient" during an internship, she said during discussion. "We pick two morning patients and two afternoon patients and let the student fill in the time between by visiting the lab or spending time with the receptionist."

Chapter involvement in medical education is key, said Gretchen Dickson, of Pittsburgh, student member of the AAFP Board. "Your constituent chapter can work wonders," she told the group. "I was going to go into pathology until I met my mentor."