A national study investigated whether four factors in medical school admission (generalist-admission committee chair, greater representation of generalists on admission committee, offering preferential admission to likely generalists, premedical recruitment activity targeting generalists) affected matriculation of underrepresented minorities and…

A discussion of the influence of finances on students' decisions to enter medicine or pursue low-paying careers in primary care or clinical investigation looks at three factors: medical school costs, the magnitude of student indebtedness, and the effects of indebtedness on career choice. (Author/MSE)

This paper outlines forces that are intensifying change in health care delivery and describes institutional obstacles preventing medical schools' adjustment of their educational offerings. Health professions education institutions are urged to develop centers for determining regional and local workforce needs and subsequently establish regionally…

This study examined self-assessments of 40 medical residents and competence expectations of 4 primary care internal medicine faculty and 10 medical specialty faculty. Specialty faculty members reported higher expectations for diagnostic performance than did faculty in primary care. Involvement of residents and faculty members in developing…

A primary care preceptorship was successfully incorporated into the University of Michigan medical school's third-year curriculum. Key components included agreement across primary care specialties on goals and objectives, involvement of community practitioners, frequent communication with preceptors, active feedback to preceptors, and thorough…

The West Virginia School of Osteopathic Medicine's success in educating and retaining primary care physicians for practice in rural Appalachia is ascribed to its focused mission; a multistate student exchange program; careful recruitment, admission, and placement; early clinical training in rural sites; and status as a state-supported institution.…

A questionnaire was administered to 339 graduating senior medical students at the Medical College of Georgia to determine different potential sources of influence on career choice. Indebtedness may be associated with the choice of a non-primary care specialty with greater remuneration than primary care specialty. (MLW)

Three models of strategic management for academic health centers are detailed: the traditional model, which will become rare; a revised traditional model that offers "boutique" clinical services, biomedical research, and medical education; and the academic services model, focusing on competitive primary and secondary clinical services, health…

It is proposed that medical schools recruit students from rural areas, have them choose family practice, and train them in rural settings. Specific recommendations for improving content and context of rural medical care education are made, including merging internal medicine, family practice, and pediatrics as a single primary care specialty.…

Medical student records were examined for information predicting graduates' specialty choices. Two variables available on admission that were associated with being in the primary-care career pipeline were being a woman and being a member of a non-underrepresented minority. One variable, rural county code, predicted non-primary-care choice. (MSE)

The Kellogg Foundation's Community Partnerships in Health Professions Education, a program designed to increase multidisciplinary, comprehensive, cost-effective primary care teams in communities, uses an organizational structure linking academic medical education with communities. The new structures have resulted in new curricula and other…

As part of the Generalist Physician Initiative, the University of Massachusetts medical school developed the "standardized family" as a model for teaching essential elements of primary care in a core curriculum format outside the clinical setting. The hypothetical family unit serves as the focus for case-based clinical problem solving.…

A survey of University of North Dakota medical graduates revealed that (1) rural students and primary care specialists were more likely than others to practice in North Dakota's rural areas; and (2) alumni completing residencies following curriculum expansion to four years were twice as likely to practice in the state. (Author/MSE)

A 20-year follow-up study of 37 students enrolled in a University of Virginia alternative medical education curriculum found the program was successful in improving students' morale during preclinical instruction, preparing them for clerkships, and increasing sensitivity to patients. It was not effective in inducing students to enter primary care…

Study using Association of American Medical Colleges data investigated relationship between medical school admission practices at public and private institutions and proportions of matriculants at each school interested in general practice, rural practice, practice in socioeconomically deprived areas. Results show public schools and those with…