March 20th, 2010 at 8:37PM

The numbers do not lie: Family Medicine is not attractive to Medical Students

Match results of my medical school graduating class this year:

  • 10 graduates matched into Family Medicine - I’m here.

Now contrast that with some of the following:

  • 9 matched into Anesthesiology - Do we need more Anesthesiologists or Family Doctors?  Do we need an almost 1:1 ratio of Anesthesiologists to Family Doctors?
  • 13 matched into General Surgery - Why are we training more Surgeons than Family Doctors?
  • 26 matched into Internal Medicine - Most of these are budding Cardiologists, Gastroenterologists, and Endocrinologists. When was the last time you met a General Internist that was younger than 35 and not a Hospitalist? They count Internal Medicine as “Primary Care”, but it really isn’t. 
  • 11 matched into Obstetrics-Gynecology - Most of them want to do fellowships in Gynecology-Oncology.  
  • 34 matched into a Surgical Specialty - We are producing 3.5 times more surgeons than family doctors.

Whatever we are doing to increase the number of Family Medicine doctors is not working.  

#residency,#health reform,#Healthcare#medical education
June 21st, 2009 at 9:59AM
There is always this expectation that at some point things will turn around. The interns say, ‘When I finish internship and become a second-year resident, things will get better.’ The residents say, ‘When I finish training, I will finally have balance again.’ And doctors in practice may believe that they will find more balance once they have retired. — http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/18/health/18chen.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&em
#medical education,#burnout,#healthcare