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BackgroundSince 2013, US residency programs have used the competency-based framework of the Milestones to report resident progress and to provide feedback to residents. The implementation of Milestones-based assessments, clinical competency committee (CCC) meetings, and processes for providing feedback varies among programs and warrants systematic examination across specialties.ObjectiveWe sought to determine how varying assessment, CCC, and feedback implementation strategies result in different outcomes in resource expenditure and stakeholder engagement, and to explore the contextual forces that moderate these outcomes.MethodsFrom 2017 to 2018, interviews were conducted of program directors, CCC chairs, and residents in emergency medicine (EM), internal medicine (IM), pediatrics, and family medicine (FM), querying their experiences with Milestone processes in their respective programs. Interview transcripts were coded using template analysis, with the initial template derived from previous research. The research team conducted iterative consensus meetings to ensure that the evolving template accurately represented phenomena described by interviewees.ResultsForty-four individuals were interviewed across 16 programs (5 EM, 4 IM, 5 pediatrics, 3 FM). We identified 3 stages of Milestone-process implementation, including a resource-intensive early stage, an increasingly efficient transition stage, and a final stage for fine-tuning.ConclusionsResidency program leaders can use these findings to place their programs along an implementation continuum and gain an understanding of the strategies that have enabled their peers to progress to improved efficiency and increased resident and faculty engagement.

PURPOSE We investigated whether physician race and ethnicity were associated with burnout among a nationally representative sample of family physicians. METHODS We undertook a cross-sectional observational study using survey data from 1,510 American Board of Family Medicine recertification applicants in 2017 and 1,586 respondents to the 2017 National Graduate Survey. Of the 3,096 total family physicians, 450 (15%) were from racial and ethnic groups underrepresented in medicine. We used structural equation models to test the effects of underrepresented status on single-item measures of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. RESULTS Family physicians underrepresented in medicine were significantly less likely than their non-underrepresented counterparts to report emotional exhaustion (adjusted odds ratio = 0.82; 95% CI, 0.69-0.99; total effect) and depersonalization (adjusted odds ratio = 0.54; 95% CI, 0.41-0.71; total effect). The underrepresented physicians were more likely than non-underrepresented peers to practice in more racially and ethnically diverse counties and less likely to practice obstetrics, both of which partly mediated the protective effect of underrepresented status on depersonalization. CONCLUSIONS Although factors such as racism might be expected to adversely affect the well-being of underrepresented clinicians, underrepresented family physicians reported a lower frequency of emotional exhaustion and depersonalization. The mediating protective effect of working in more racially and ethnically diverse counties is consistent with evidence of the beneficial effect of cultural diversity on health outcomes for minorities. Because physician burnout is a known predictor of job turnover and may also be associated with poorer quality of care, the lower burnout observed among underrepresented family physicians may be an asset for the health care system as a whole. Key words: burnout, professional; job satisfaction; occupational stress; race; ethnicity; racism; social environment; physicians, family; primary care, INTRODUCTION Burnout is defined as 'feeling empty and mentally exhausted, devoid of motivation, and beyond caring.' (1) One commonly used conceptual framework considers burnout to consist of 3 dimensions: emotional [...]

The American Board of Family Medicine routinely surveys its Diplomates in each national graduating cohort 3 years out of training. These data were used to characterize early career family physicians whose services include management of pregnancy and prescribing buprenorphine. A total of 261 (5.1%) respondents both provide maternity care and prescribe buprenorphine. Family physicians who care for pregnant women and also prescribe buprenorphine represented 50.4% of all buprenorphine prescribers. The family physicians in this group were trained in a small number of residency programs, with only 15 programs producing at least 25% of graduates who do this work. Key words: family medicine; addiction medicine; buprenorphine; maternity care; opioids, INTRODUCTION Morbidity and mortality associated with opioid use disorder (OUD) has steadily increased in the United States in recent years, with deaths related to opioid overdose increasing from 8,050 in [...]

Background: While barriers to care for pregnant patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) have been described, the experiences and challenges of the physicians providing care to these patients are poorly understood.Objectives: To describe the experiences of family physicians providing comprehensive care to pregnant people with OUD and the challenges they face in providing such care.Methods: Qualitative thematic analysis of 17 semistructured interviews conducted from July 2019 to September 2020 with family physicians who possess a Drug Enforcement Administration "X" waiver and provide care to pregnant patients.Results: Seventeen family physicians practicing in the United States who care for pregnant people with OUD were interviewed. They described physician-, patient-, and systems-level barriers to providing and accessing care for this patient population. Of the 12 interrelated themes regarding challenges to delivering and accessing this care, 3 were particularly salient: the pervasive effects of social determinants of health, a lack of adequately trained providers, and social stigma associated with pregnant people with OUD.Conclusion: A comprehensive, multilevel, and multidisciplinary approach is necessary to address these barriers and move towards health equity for this vulnerable patient population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Racial/ethnic score disparities on standardized tests are well documented. Such differences on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) certification examination have not been previously reported. If such differences exist, it could be due to differences in knowledge at the beginning of residency or due to variations in the rate of knowledge acquisition during residency. Our objective was to examine the residents' mean initial scores and score trajectories using the In-Training Examination (ITE) and certification examination.Methods: A total of 17,275 certification candidates from 2014 to 2019 were included in this study. Annual ITE scores and certification examination scores are reported on the same scale and serve as the outcome. We conducted multilevel longitudinal regression to determine initial knowledge and growth in knowledge acquisition during residency by race/ethnicity categories.Results: The mean postgraduate year 1 (PGY-1) ITE score was 393.3, with minority residents scoring 16.2 to 36.0 points lower compared to White residents. The mean increase per year in exam performance from PGY-1 ITE to the certification exam was 39.9 points (95% CI, 38.7, 41.1) with additional change among race/ethnicity categories per year of -3.2 to 1.9 points.Conclusions: This study found that there were initial score disparities across race/ethnicity groups in PGY-1, and these disparities continued at the same rate throughout residency training, suggesting equality in acquisition of knowledge during family medicine residency training but with a persistent gap throughout training. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Maternity care training is a standard requirement for all family medicine residents, and family physicians play a critical role in the US maternity care workforce. In 2014, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) updated the required obstetrical experience during family medicine residency training from a volume-based to a competency-based requirement of 200 hours (2 months rotation). This study aimed to determine if family medicine resident maternity care training experience differed after this change in requirements.Methods: A nationwide survey of family medicine program directors was conducted as part of the 2019 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) survey, replicating a 2013 CERA survey to determine if there was a change in family medicine resident maternity care experience after the ACGME requirements update.Results: The priority programs place on residents' continuity deliveries and family medicine faculty attending deliveries decreased between 2013 and 2019. The reported number of continuity deliveries and vaginal deliveries performed by residents also decreased significantly between 2013 and 2019, yet the program directors' estimate of the number of graduates going on to provide obstetric deliveries or pursue a maternity care fellowship did not change significantly. Programs reporting more than 25% of graduates continuing to conduct vaginal deliveries have reported similar numbers of vaginal deliveries per resident as in 2013.Conclusions: The majority of family medicine residents are graduating with less delivery experience, and residency programs are placing less priority on continuity deliveries and modeling by family physician faculty following the 2014 ACGME Family Medicine Requirements update. This trend may have major implications on the comprehensive nature of our specialty and further widen gaps in the maternity care workforce. Further studies are needed to determine the impact on the competency of graduating family medicine residents in providing maternity care and for the long-term effects on the maternity care workforce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Family physicians (FPs) are well positioned to increase abortion access given their broad scope and diverse geographic practice regions. Previously published studies focus on physicians who received formal abortion training but do not include the full landscape of FPs performing abortions in the United States. This secondary data analysis presents a unique opportunity to examine characteristics of early-career FPs who provide abortions, including practice locations and if they received abortion training during residency.Methods: We analyzed data from the 2016-2018 Family Medicine National Graduate Survey to generate descriptive statistics about respondents who report providing pregnancy termination, uterine aspiration/dilation and curettage, or both. We evaluated associations between physician and/or practice characteristics and providing pregnancy termination using bivariate statistics.Results: Of the 6,319 survey respondents, 3% reported providing pregnancy termination. Nearly three-quarters of this subset reported graduating residency feeling prepared to provide pregnancy termination. Most respondents completed residency in the West or Northeast US geographic regions, and 3 years later were practicing in the West or South regions. Additional characteristics associated with providing pregnancy termination include female gender, providing continuity care, and practicing in either an academic medical center or a federally qualified health center.Conclusions: FPs are well positioned to address gaps in abortion access, and those who provide pregnancy termination practice in various US geographic regions. This is the first discussion of its kind about the scope of family physicians providing abortion care. Future research should continue to characterize FPs who provide abortions to determine where they train and practice and what type of abortions they provide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Little is known about how family medicine clerkship directors (FMCDs) handle reports of student mistreatment. We investigated FMCDs' involvement in handling and resolving these reports.Methods: We collected data as part of the 2019 CERA survey of FMCDs. FMCDs provided responses on how they handled student mistreatment reports and their comfort level in resolving these reports.Results: Ninety-nine out of 142 FMCDs (69.7%) responded to the survey. Regarding mistreatment reports, 24.2% of FMCDs had received at least one report of student mistreatment about full-time faculty in the past 3 years, compared to 64.6% of FMCDs receiving at least one report about community preceptors (P<.001). Regarding who determined the response to the mistreatment, 13.1% of FMCDs were the highest level of leadership responsible for stopping use of a full-time faculty member for mistreatment concerns, while 42.4% of FMCDs were the highest level of leadership responsible for stopping use of a community preceptor. Regarding their comfort level in resolving mistreatment reports, 59.1% of FMCDs were either somewhat or very comfortable resolving a mistreatment report about a community preceptor, while only 48.9% reported those comfort levels for full-time faculty. FMCDs who had previously stopped using full-time faculty and/or community preceptors due to mistreatment reports were less likely to feel comfortable with resolving reports about full-time faculty compared to those who had no such experience (P=.03).Conclusions: FMCDs more frequently receive mistreatment reports about community preceptors than full-time faculty and are more likely to be the highest decision maker to stop using a community preceptor for mistreatment concerns. Further study is needed to elucidate factors that affect FMCDs' comfort in handling student mistreatment reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: Board certification programs have been criticized as not relevant to practice, not improving patient care, and creating additional burdens on already overburdened physicians. Many physicians may feel compelled to participate in board certification programs in order to satisfy employer, hospital, and insurer requirements; however, the influence of forces as motivators for physicians to continue board certification is poorly understood.Methods: We used data from the 2017 American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Family Medicine Certification Examination practice demographic registration questionnaire for those seeking to continue their certification, removing physicians who indicated they did not provide direct patient care. We utilized a mixed-methods design. For the quantitative analysis, a proportional odds logistic regression was used to examine the association between predictor variables and increasing levels of external motivation. For the qualitative analysis, we used a deductive approach to examine open-text responses.Results: Of the analytical sample of 7,545 family physicians, approximately one-fifth (21.4%) were motivated to continue their board certification solely by intrinsic factors. Less than one-fifth (17.3%) were motivated only by extrinsic factors, and the majority (61.2%) reported mixed motivations for continuing their board certification. Only 38 respondents (0.5%) included a negative opinion about the certification process in their open-text responses.Conclusions: Approximately half of family physicians in this sample noted a requirement to continue their certification, suggesting that there has been no significant increase in the requirements from employers, credentialing bodies, or insurers for physicians to continue board certification noted in previously cited work. Furthermore, only 17.5% of our sample reported solely external motivation to continue certification, indicating that real or perceived requirements are not the primary driver for most physicians to maintain certification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The number of family physicians providing obstetric deliveries is decreasing, but high numbers of new graduates report they intend to include obstetric deliveries in their practices. The objective of this study was to understand barriers to providing obstetrical care faced by recent family medicine residency graduates who intended to provide obstetrical care at graduation.Methods: Email surveys were sent to graduating family medicine residents who indicated intention to include obstetrics in their practice on the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Certification Examination Registration Survey (2014-2016). We used descriptive and bivariate statistics to analyze the data.Results: Of our sample of 2,098 early career family physicians, 1,016 (48.4%) responded. Seven hundred (68.9%) currently include obstetrics in their practices. Those currently including obstetrics were more likely to practice in a small rural or isolated (15.4% vs 5.2% and 4.6% vs 1.7%, P<0.001) community and report credentialing was easy (85.2% and 26.5%, respectively, P<0.001). Physicians not currently including obstetrics in their practice reported "found a job without OB" and "lifestyle concerns" as the most significant barriers. Respondents living in the Middle Atlantic and West South Central regions were least likely to provide obstetric deliveries, with fewer than 50% doing so.Conclusions: Among recent graduates who intended to practice obstetrics, finding a job without obstetrics and lifestyle concerns were the most significant barriers to realizing the scope of practice they intended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article shares the problem-solving process and resultant rapid sensemaking methodology created by an interdisciplinary research team faced with qualitative "big data." Confronted with a data set of over half a million free text comments, within an existing data set of 320,500 surveys, our team developed a process to structure the naturally occurring variability within the data, to identify and isolate meaningful analytic units, and to group subsets of our data amenable to automated coding using a templatebased process. This allowed a significant portion of the data to be rapidly assessed while still preserving the ability to explore the more complex free text comments with a grounded theory informed emergent process. In this discussion, we focus on strategies useful to other teams interested in fielding open-ended questions as part of large survey efforts and incorporating those findings as part of an integrated analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objectives: The breadth of family medicine (FM) generates debate about the length of residency training. One argument used by proponents for lengthening training is that residents feel unprepared for practice. The objectives of our study were to (1) identify the proportion of FM residency graduates intending to pursue fellowship training and those who would have done an additional year of core residency training had it been available, and (2) determine whether an association exists between these two variables.Methods: We used data collected by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) as part of resident certification examination application in 2014 and 2015. Data included fellowship intention, and interest in pursuing another year of residency training if it were available. We used descriptive and bivariate statistics.Results: The questionnaire was completed by 6,235 residents, of which 17.0% (n=1,063) intended to enroll in a fellowship. Overall 54.2% of residents were "not at all likely" to extend residency training, with 19.9% "extremely/moderately likely". Forty-six percent of those intending a fellowship were "not at all likely" to extend training and only 29% of those "extremely/moderately likely" to extend residency training intended to enroll in a fellowship.Conclusions: We found a disconnect between fellowship intention and desire for another year of residency training. Desire for fellowship may be more about obtaining specific skills and expertise or additional certifications, and less about being prepared for general practice in family medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]