Results of a survey to document the nature and volume of ambulatory care in the community, based on an assessment of the visit, indicate that nearly four of five ambulatory visits made to physicians are for primary care and that all physicians, even the most specialized, provide a substantial amount of primary care. Implications for medical…

The spectrum of patients seen in a traditional hospital-based training program is compared with patients seen in the University of Minnesota's ambulatory care clinic. Records were kept of the author's primary care experience with 687 patients. (LBH)

Medical specialty choice and reasons for change among those Wright State University students who switched their choice between entry and graduation were studied, based on questionnaire findings. For the class of 1982, 35 of the 70 students chose as their eventual specialty their preference at entry to medical school. Primary care specialties…

Experience on the traditional internal medicine, surgery, pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, and psychiatry clerkships was compared with the experience on a family medicine clerkship. The family medicine clerkship offered the most experience with circulatory, respiratory, digestive, neurological, musculoskeletal, and skin problems and with…

A review of current trends in primary care career choice is reported. Questions addressed include whether students choosing the primary care specialties share similar attitudes toward their medical role, and whether student attitudes have changed during the last few years as the result of the national focus on primary care. (JMD)

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)

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.…

A bibliography on education of physicians for primary care is presented, based on a search of the "Index Medicus" primarily for the period 1971-1983. Selected articles from 1984 are also included. The approximately 60 references are listed alphabetically by the lead author's surname. A major feature of the bibliography is the keywording of each…