Jacob Guernsey's future lay inside the white envelope. Within it were the names of the medical specialty and residency program that would dictate where he would live for at least the next three years.
Service to Patients, Practice Diversity Draw Students to Family Medicine
By News Staff
3/23/2007
Young Jacob Guernsey attends to the solemn task of opening an envelope holding the residency program match results of his father, David Guernsey, pictured here overseeing the process.
Young Jacob fumbled with the envelope; handed it to his father, David Guernsey, for a quick assist; retrieved it; and then slipped the contents out and gave them to his dad.
Smiling, David leaned into the microphone. "The Guernseys are going to Smoky Hill in Salina, Kansas," he intoned. With that, David Guernsey announced he had successfully matched to family medicine. Guernsey's fellow medical students whooped, cheered and applauded.
Guernsey and 2,312 other newly minted residents around the country learned March 15 they had successfully "matched" to family medicine in the National Resident Matching Program, or NRMP. Like his colleagues who chose the specialty, Guernsey was drawn to family medicine by the diversity of the patients he will care for as a family physician, the ability to provide continuity of care throughout the lifespan, the relationships he will forge with his patients and the contributions family physicians make to their communities.
Smiling, David leaned into the microphone. "The Guernseys are going to Smoky Hill in Salina, Kansas," he intoned. With that, David Guernsey announced he had successfully matched to family medicine. Guernsey's fellow medical students whooped, cheered and applauded.
Guernsey and 2,312 other newly minted residents around the country learned March 15 they had successfully "matched" to family medicine in the National Resident Matching Program, or NRMP. Like his colleagues who chose the specialty, Guernsey was drawn to family medicine by the diversity of the patients he will care for as a family physician, the ability to provide continuity of care throughout the lifespan, the relationships he will forge with his patients and the contributions family physicians make to their communities.
To hear comments from students at the University of Kansas School of Medicine - Kansas City who matched to family medicine, download the MP3 file (MP3 file: 9:48 minutes. More about downloading files.) or subscribe to the AAFP News Now podcast.
"I really like the relationship I'm able to build with the patients in family medicine and being able to be there to help my patients through all the different things they go through in life," Guernsey said after the University of Kansas School of Medicine - Kansas City matching ceremony.
His new family medicine colleagues echoed his words.
His new family medicine colleagues echoed his words.
Diversity of Practice
"A lot of it for me was that I knew I loved the variety of family medicine," said Stacy Dashiell, who matched to the family medicine residency at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo.
"The more time I spent with family doctors at the Kansas Academy (of Family Physicians) meetings, I more and more knew that family doctors embody what I want to be and what I see a physician as," she said. "Their role in the community, I think, is so important."
For family physicians in the Kansas AFP, "it's never about money," said Dashiell. "It's about the patient and what's best for the patient. It's important to protect family doctors and their financial interests, but it's always about 'This is what is best for our patients' and 'This is a struggle I see my patients going through. How can we make this better?' That was always something that's important to me."
"The more time I spent with family doctors at the Kansas Academy (of Family Physicians) meetings, I more and more knew that family doctors embody what I want to be and what I see a physician as," she said. "Their role in the community, I think, is so important."
For family physicians in the Kansas AFP, "it's never about money," said Dashiell. "It's about the patient and what's best for the patient. It's important to protect family doctors and their financial interests, but it's always about 'This is what is best for our patients' and 'This is a struggle I see my patients going through. How can we make this better?' That was always something that's important to me."
Making a Difference
Other new family medicine residents said they looked forward to making a difference in their patients' lives and the health care of communities in need.
Family physicians "get to do a little bit of everything," said Josh Umber, who matched to the residency program at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kan. "They get to have contact with pediatric patients. They get to do OB and help build families. They get to be there for older patients and help them through different stages." That type of patient contact and long-term commitment is what drew him to family medicine, Umber said.
Andrea Sandoval, who will enter the residency at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., agreed. "I went into family medicine because I love being able to take care of everyone from 'womb to tomb,' as the saying goes," she said. "I want to be able to go from that 80-year-old patient who has chronic problems to that 10-month-old who is there because he has a runny nose but is healthy otherwise."
Family physicians "get to do a little bit of everything," said Josh Umber, who matched to the residency program at Wesley Medical Center, Wichita, Kan. "They get to have contact with pediatric patients. They get to do OB and help build families. They get to be there for older patients and help them through different stages." That type of patient contact and long-term commitment is what drew him to family medicine, Umber said.
Andrea Sandoval, who will enter the residency at Research Medical Center in Kansas City, Mo., agreed. "I went into family medicine because I love being able to take care of everyone from 'womb to tomb,' as the saying goes," she said. "I want to be able to go from that 80-year-old patient who has chronic problems to that 10-month-old who is there because he has a runny nose but is healthy otherwise."
Meeting Needs
Newly matched residents said they chose family medicine because it offered a chance to provide care to communities in need.
Noting she chose family medicine partly because "I want to be that old country doctor that everyone knows in western Kansas," Sandoval said the importance of family medicine to smaller communities was a lure to the specialty.
That option also attracted James Bare, an Atlanta metro area native who matched to the Smoky Hill residency in Salina, Kan. "I picked family medicine because I always wanted to do primary care, and family medicine gives me the largest scope of medical care possible," he said. "I want to do rural medicine, and family medicine, of course, gives you the greatest scope of knowledge for that future."
Raoul Morffi, who, like Guernsey and Bare, matched to the Smoky Hill residency, agreed. Family medicine, he said, "really excited me because of the diversity of all the things you can do in a day. You can get really involved in the community and have an influence on your patients. There's a big need in rural Kansas. … I'd like to be in a smaller community."
These family physicians-to-be hailed from rural, urban and suburban areas, and their specialty choice reflects their medical school's focus on producing primary care physicians. For 10 of the past 12 years, the school's Kansas City and Wichita campuses have received AAFP Percentage Awards, which recognize medical schools for their exceptional role in advocating the specialty of family medicine by graduating medical students into first-year positions in family medicine. Between the 2002-03 and 2004-05 academic years, an average of 21.1 percent of the medical school's graduates matched to family medicine, the highest average percentage in the nation.
Noting she chose family medicine partly because "I want to be that old country doctor that everyone knows in western Kansas," Sandoval said the importance of family medicine to smaller communities was a lure to the specialty.
That option also attracted James Bare, an Atlanta metro area native who matched to the Smoky Hill residency in Salina, Kan. "I picked family medicine because I always wanted to do primary care, and family medicine gives me the largest scope of medical care possible," he said. "I want to do rural medicine, and family medicine, of course, gives you the greatest scope of knowledge for that future."
Raoul Morffi, who, like Guernsey and Bare, matched to the Smoky Hill residency, agreed. Family medicine, he said, "really excited me because of the diversity of all the things you can do in a day. You can get really involved in the community and have an influence on your patients. There's a big need in rural Kansas. … I'd like to be in a smaller community."
These family physicians-to-be hailed from rural, urban and suburban areas, and their specialty choice reflects their medical school's focus on producing primary care physicians. For 10 of the past 12 years, the school's Kansas City and Wichita campuses have received AAFP Percentage Awards, which recognize medical schools for their exceptional role in advocating the specialty of family medicine by graduating medical students into first-year positions in family medicine. Between the 2002-03 and 2004-05 academic years, an average of 21.1 percent of the medical school's graduates matched to family medicine, the highest average percentage in the nation.
Era of Reform
New physicians who participated in the recent National Resident Matching Program are launching their family medicine careers at a time when health system reform advocates are beginning to recognize primary care's role in reining in spiraling costs, reducing fragmentation of services and its accompanying chance for medical error, and improving outcomes for individuals and the public as a whole.
Data such as that recently revealed in the report "Access Denied: A Look at America's Disenfranchised" have spurred more interest in primary care among health policy-makers, lawmakers and consumer groups, such as the AARP.
"National comparisons conducted by Dartmouth researchers indicate that communities with more robust primary care provide lower cost, higher quality care," said T. Byron Thames, M.D., a member of the AARP Board of Directors and a past AAFP director, during testimony before the March 1 Senate Finance Committee hearing on Medicare physician payment. "It is clear that the mix of physicians in a community has a direct impact on quality and cost. Moreover, patients report more care-coordination problems the more specialists they see."
In his testimony before the committee, Glenn Hackbarth, J.D., chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, noted MedPAC's March 2007 report to Congress (PDF file: 236 pages / 5.6 MB. More about PDFs.) had called for "promoting primary care, which can lower costs without compromising quality."
"As the MedPAC report emphasizes, the Medicare program could improve the efficiency of health care delivery by increasing the use of primary care services and encouraging coordination of care," Thames agreed in his testimony.
Data such as that recently revealed in the report "Access Denied: A Look at America's Disenfranchised" have spurred more interest in primary care among health policy-makers, lawmakers and consumer groups, such as the AARP.
"National comparisons conducted by Dartmouth researchers indicate that communities with more robust primary care provide lower cost, higher quality care," said T. Byron Thames, M.D., a member of the AARP Board of Directors and a past AAFP director, during testimony before the March 1 Senate Finance Committee hearing on Medicare physician payment. "It is clear that the mix of physicians in a community has a direct impact on quality and cost. Moreover, patients report more care-coordination problems the more specialists they see."
In his testimony before the committee, Glenn Hackbarth, J.D., chair of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, noted MedPAC's March 2007 report to Congress (PDF file: 236 pages / 5.6 MB. More about PDFs.) had called for "promoting primary care, which can lower costs without compromising quality."
"As the MedPAC report emphasizes, the Medicare program could improve the efficiency of health care delivery by increasing the use of primary care services and encouraging coordination of care," Thames agreed in his testimony.
Resident & Student Focus
Medical Students' Empathy Plunges in Third Year, Says Study
ACGME Launches First Peer-Reviewed Journal Dedicated to GME
STFM Develops First National Family Medicine Clerkship Curriculum
LCME Invites Comments on Proposed Changes to Accreditation Standards
AAMC Offers New Resources on Debt Management
Resident Fatigue, Distress Can Lead to Medical Errors, Says Study
Survey Shows Medical Students Consider EHRs Key Practice Tools
Report Details Features of U.S. Seniors Entering Family Medicine
FMIGs Invited to Sign Up for Advocacy Webinar
Report Details Factors That Contribute to Students' Specialty Choice
New AAFP Resource Aims to Educate Medical Students About PCMH
Related News Stories
Primary Care Physician Shortage Creates Medically Disenfranchised Population
(3/22/2007)
Match Results Prompt Call to Action
(3/15/2007)
Academy's Response to MedPAC Report
SGR Formula Does Not Work, AAFP Tells Congress
(3/2/2007)
Primary Care Physician Shortage Creates Medically Disenfranchised Population
(3/22/2007)
Match Results Prompt Call to Action
(3/15/2007)
Academy's Response to MedPAC Report
SGR Formula Does Not Work, AAFP Tells Congress
(3/2/2007)