scholarly journals Impact of the Rural Physician Associate Program on Workforce Outcomes

2021 ◽  
Vol 53 (10) ◽  
pp. 864-870
Author(s):  
Logan Butler ◽  
Mark E. Rosenberg ◽  
Yeng M. Miller-Chang ◽  
Jacqueline L. Gauer ◽  
Emily Melcher ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Rural Practice ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
University Of Minnesota ◽  
Rural Workforce ◽  
Primary Care Specialty ◽  
Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship ◽  
Practice Methods ◽  
Rural Physician

Background and Objectives: The Rural Physician Associate Program (RPAP) at the University of Minnesota Medical School (UMMS) is a 9-month rural longitudinal integrated clerkship (LIC) for third-year medical students built on a foundation of family medicine. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between participation in the RPAP program and the desired workforce outcomes of practice in Minnesota, primary care specialty (particularly family medicine), and rural practice. Methods: We analyzed workforce outcomes for UMMS graduates who completed postgraduate training between 1975 and 2017, comparing RPAP participants (n=1,217) to noparticipants (n=7,928). We identified graduates through internal UMMS databases linked to the American Medical Association (AMA) Physician Masterfile and the National Provider Identifier (NPI) registry. We identified workforce outcomes of rural practice, practice in Minnesota, primary care specialty, and family medicine specialty based on practice specialty and practice location data available through the AMA and NPI data sets. Results: Proportionally, more RPAP graduates practice in state (65.7% vs 54.4%, P<.01), in primary care (69.0% vs 33.4%, P<.01), in family medicine (61.1% vs 17.3%, P<.01), and rurally (41.2% vs 13.9%, P<.01) than non-RPAP graduates. Conclusions: We demonstrate a significant association between participation in RPAP and a career in family medicine, rural practice, and primary care, all outcomes that promote meeting urgent rural workforce needs.

scholarly journals The WRITE Stuff: A Rural Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship Addresses Workforce Needs

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Misbah Keen ◽  
Danielle Bienz ◽  
Toby Keys ◽  
Douglas Schaad ◽  
David Evans
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
Medical School ◽  
First Year ◽  
Key Word ◽  
Usmle Step 1 ◽  
Longitudinal Integrated Clerkship ◽  
Usmle Step ◽  
Workforce Needs

Introduction: The University of Washington School of Medicine has six campuses in the five state WWAMI (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho) region. The WRITE (WWAMI Rural Integrated Training Experience) program is a 22 to 24 week long rural longitudinal integrated clerkship experience offered to medical students in their clinical phase (third year) of training. This program seeks to meet the rural workforce needs of the WWAMI region by increasing the number of medical students going into primary care. Critics of LIC’s have expressed concern about overall quality control of the more remote educational experience and the lack of specialty specific teaching.  The aim of this study was to compare medical school and PGY-1 performance of WRITE and Non-WRITE students while determining how well each cohort is meeting the regional workforce needs. Methods: The study group was all UWSOM students who matriculated from 2009 to 2013, advanced to graduation, and subsequently matched to a residency through the National Residency Match Program. WRITE and non-WRITE cohorts were compared for USMLE step 1 and 2 scores, MSPE (Medical Student Performance Evaluation) key word, and self and program director assessments in the first year of residency. The match results of the two cohorts were also compared to determine the proportions entering primary care residencies. Finally, for both cohorts the specialty choice at matriculation was compared with the match results. Descriptive statistics were used to test the comparisons. Results: The medical school performance of the WRITE and Non-WRITE cohorts was equivalent in all metrics (USMLE Step 1 and 2, MSPE key word, self and program director assessment of performance in the first year of residency). WRITE students were significantly more likely to match into primary care (67.6% vs 48.3%, p<0.001) overall and, in particular, Family Medicine as their specialty (40% vs 14.3%, p<0.001).  WRITE students were also more likely to match into the same specialty that they indicated on the UWSOM matriculation survey. For Family Medicine the loss of fidelity between matriculation and match among WRITE students was 3% (43.4 - 40.4) and among Non-WRITE students, it was 6.3% (20.6 - 14.3). Conclusions: Performance outcomes of the WRITE program are equivalent to a traditional block curriculum.  However, the WRITE cohort is significantly more likely to go into primary care fields, especially family medicine and is more likely to stay with the declared specialty at matriculation. Medical schools that seek to increase the number of students going into primary care may benefit from adopting a similar model.

scholarly journals Rural Workforce Years: Quantifying the Rural Workforce Contribution of Family Medicine Residency Graduates

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 717-726
Author(s):  
Peter Meyers ◽  
Elizabeth Wilkinson ◽  
Stephen Petterson ◽  
Davis G. Patterson ◽  
Randall Longenecker ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Primary Care ◽  
Family Medicine ◽  
The United States ◽  
Measurement Tool ◽  
Matched Cohort ◽  
Family Medicine Residency ◽  
Rural Primary Care ◽  
Rural Workforce ◽  
Primary Care Workforce

ABSTRACT Background Rural regions of the United States continue to experience a disproportionate shortage of physicians compared to urban regions despite decades of state and federal investments in workforce initiatives. The graduate medical education system effectively controls the size of the physician workforce but lacks effective mechanisms to equitably distribute those physicians. Objective We created a measurement tool called a “rural workforce year” to better understand the rural primary care workforce. It quantifies the rural workforce contributions of rurally trained family medicine residency program graduates and compares them to contributions of a geographically matched cohort of non-rurally trained graduates. Methods We identified graduates in both cohorts and tracked their practice locations from 2008–2018. We compared the average number of rural workforce years in 3 cross sections: 5, 8, and 10 years in practice after residency graduation. Results Rurally trained graduates practicing for contributed a higher number of rural workforce years in total and on average per graduate compared to a matched cohort of non-rural/rural training tack (RTT) graduates in the same practice intervals (P &lt; .001 in all 3 comparison groups). In order to replace the rural workforce years produced by 1 graduate from the rural/RTT cohort, it would take 2.89 graduates from non-rural/RTT programs. Conclusions These findings suggest that rural/RTT-trained physicians devote substantially more service to rural communities than a matched cohort of non-rural/RTT graduates and highlight the importance of rural/RTT programs as a major contributor to the rural primary care workforce in the United States.

scholarly journals Assessing factors for choosing a primary care specialty in medical students; A longitudinal study

2021 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 1890901
Author(s):  
Corry McDonald ◽  
Austin Henderson ◽  
Patrick Barlow ◽  
Jerrod Keith
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Longitudinal Study ◽  
Medical Students ◽  
Primary Care Specialty

WHERE HAVE ALL THE PRIMARY CARE APPLICANTS GONE?

PEDIATRICS ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 93 (3) ◽  
pp. A56-A56
Author(s):  
Jack M. Colwill
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Medical School ◽  
Primary Care Specialty

TABLE 1. U.S. Medical School Graduates Matched with Positions by the National Residency Matching Program in 1986 and 1991, According to Primary Care Specialty. See table in the PDF file

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