Tools Tell Med Students About Specialty

"Your Future Is Family Medicine" is a new toolkit that informs medical students about the specialty of family medicine and encourages them to consider becoming family physicians.

The online resource -- which was created by the AAFP and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine in collaboration with the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors and the Academic Family Medicine Organizations' Predoctoral Education Subcommittee -- is designed for use by all family physicians, not just academics. It includes a 28-slide PowerPoint presentation, a handout, talking points and practical tips for giving talks to medical students.

"The slides highlight for students the extent of what we do in family medicine," says Marguerite Duane, M.D., M.H.A., assistant professor and clerkship director in the family medicine department at Georgetown University, Washington, D.C. Duane received an early copy of the PowerPoint presentation and has shown it to students beginning their third-year clerkship.

"Students here tell us they don't want to go into family medicine because it will limit their options," says Duane. "The slide on how many family physicians do inpatient medicine (83 percent) and maternity care (21 percent) and emergency care (54 percent) is eye-opening for students who think of family medicine as a very limited outpatient specialty." The slide that lists 21 procedures family physicians perform also captures students' attention, says Duane.

The 17-page talking points document that accompanies the PowerPoint presentation encourages presenters to share their personal stories. "Students are amazed to hear that during a week on my hospital service, I cared for patients with HIV, acute renal disease, pneumonia and new-onset diabetes," says Duane. "I inform them that more than 20 percent of family doctors deliver babies, and I delivered 30 in 2005. The students see it's not just family doctors in rural areas that are delivering babies."