Health Care Professionals, Family Physician Training With

To prepare family medicine graduates to deliver the Quadruple Aim¹ of improving the health of populations, enhancing the patient experience of care, reducing the per capita cost of health care, and improving the work life of clinicians and staff, it is necessary for residents to learn to share responsibility for care delivery as a part of high-functioning interprofessional teams. Residents should be trained together with a variety of other health care professionals. The types and numbers of other health professionals, both learners and practitioners, in the learning environment may vary based upon the local environment. They may include nurse practitioners, physician assistants, assistant physicians or associate physicians, behavioral health specialists, nurses, pharmacists, care managers or coordinators, social workers, physical and occupational therapists, midwives, and others.

In this educational setting, there should be deliberate teaching and experiential learning about the roles, responsibilities, and potential contributions of each team member. Interprofessional education should be focused on four main competency domains²:

• Work with individuals of other professions to maintain a climate of mutual respect and shared values.
• Use the knowledge of one’s own role and those of other professions to appropriately assess and address the healthcare needs of the patients and populations served.
• Communicate with patients, families, communities, and other health professionals in a responsive and responsible manner that supports a team approach to the maintenance of health and the treatment of disease.
• Apply relationship-building values and the principles of team dynamics to perform effectively in different team roles to plan and deliver patient-/population-centered care that is safe, timely, efficient, effective, and equitable.

Patients need transparency about health care professionals qualified to provide healthcare services. Only physicians who have completed an ACGME- or AOA-approved family medicine residency program may use the designation of family physician and the public be so informed.

References:

1.  Bodenheimer T, Sinsky C. From triple to quadruple aim: care of the patient requires care of the provider. Ann Fam Med. 2014:12(6): 573–576.
2. Core Competencies from Interprofessional Education Collaborative Expert Panel. (2011). Core competencies for interprofessional collaborative practice: Report of an expert panel. Washington, D.C.: Interprofessional Education Collaborative.

(B1994) (Sept 2019 BOD)