Promoting family medicine

The year 2002 saw the publication of a landmark white paper in the United Kingdom entitled "Shifting the balance." It proposed redistribution of funds with the lion's share of the NHS budget going towards Primary Care services. Soon after, the white paper was approved, and at present 75% of the NHS budget is directed towards primary care.1 This underpins the importance and priority which the government in the United Kingdom gives to primary care in order to have an effective health system.peer-reviewe

Family medicine training in Sub-Saharan Africa : South-South cooperation in the Primafamed project as strategy for development

BACKGROUND. Health-care systems based on primary health care (PHC) are more equitable and cost effective. Family medicine trains medical doctors in comprehensive PHC with knowledge and skills that are needed to increase quality of care. Family medicine is a relatively new specialty in sub-Saharan Africa. OBJECTIVE. To explore the extent to which the Primafamed South–South cooperative project contributed to the development of family medicine in sub-Saharan Africa. METHODS. The Primafamed (Primary Health Care and Family Medicine Education) project worked together with 10 partner universities in sub-Saharan Africa to develop family medicine training programmes over a period of 2.5 years. A SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis was done and the training development from 2008 to 2010 in the different partner universities was analysed. RESULTS. During the 2.5 years of the Primafamed project, all partner universities made progress in the development of their family medicine training programmes. The SWOT analysis showed that at both national and international levels, the time is ripe to train medical doctors in family medicine and to integrate the specialty into health-care systems, although many barriers, including little awareness, lack of funding, low support from other specialists and reserved support from policymakers, are still present. CONCLUSIONS. Family medicine can play an important role in health-care systems in sub-Saharan Africa; however, developing a new discipline is challenging. Advocacy, local ownership, action research and support from governments are necessary to develop family medicine and increase its impact. The Primafamed project showed that development of sustainable family medicine training programmes is a feasible but slow process. The South–South cooperation between the ten partners and the South African departments of family medicine strengthened confidence at both national and international levels

Medical Student Summer Externship Program: Increasing the Number Matching in Family Practice

Abstract: Background and Objectives. The number of US allopathic medical school graduates choosing a residency in family medicine has fallen from 13.4% in 1999 to 10.5% in 2002. Concern about declining numbers has led to the development of programs to provide medical students exposure to family medicine outside the clerkship. This paper reports on the development and longitudinal achievements of a clinical summer externship program 1993 to 1999. Methods. The program description, practice settings, students’ experiences, and department commitment are described. The purpose of this prospective study is to determine the percentage of family medicine summer externship participants (n=115) who match into family medicine. Results. During the six years studied, 49 (43.4%) of the participants matched into family medicine. Program participants viewed the program favorably, mean = 5.82 out of 6. Conclusions. The Ohio State University Department of Family Medicine Medical Student Summer Externship Program demonstrates an effective educational experience that can increase and/or attain the proportion of students going into family medicine at the time of graduation

Family medicine in Malta

Whereas education in family medicine has made great advances in Europe in the last 30 years, it is still developing in Malta. The setting up of a Department of Family Medicine within the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery has brought our country in line with the rest of the European countries. The Malta College of Family Doctors, founded in 1989 filled the great void in the academic field of Family Medicine. Much was accomplished in the last 14 years, though much remains to be done.peer-reviewe

The association of types of training and practice settings with doctors’ empathy and patient enablement among patients with chronic illness in Hong Kong

Background: The increase in non-communicable disease (NCD) is becoming a global health problem and there is an increasing need for primary care doctors to look after these patients although whether family doctors are adequately trained and prepared is unknown. Objective: This study aimed to determine if doctors with family medicine (FM) training are associated with enhanced empathy in consultation and enablement for patients with chronic illness as compared to doctors with internal medicine training or without any postgraduate training in different clinic settings. Methods: This was a cross-sectional questionnaire survey using the validated Chinese version of the Consultation and Relational Empathy (CARE) Measure as well as Patient Enablement Instrument (PEI) for evaluation of quality and outcome of care. 14 doctors from hospital specialist clinics (7 with family medicine training, and 7 with internal medicine training) and 13 doctors from primary care clinics (7 with family medicine training, and 6 without specialist training) were recruited. In total, they consulted 823 patients with chronic illness. The CARE Measure and PEI scores were compared amongst doctors in these clinics with different training background: family medicine training, internal medicine training and those without specialist training. Generalized estimation equation (GEE) was used to account for cluster effects of patients nested with doctors. <b>Results</b> Within similar clinic settings, FM trained doctors had higher CARE score than doctors with no FM training. In hospital clinics, the difference of the mean CARE score for doctors who had family medicine training (39.2, SD = 7.04) and internal medicine training (35.5, SD = 8.92) was statistically significant after adjusting for consultation time and gender of the patient. In the community care clinics, the mean CARE score for doctors with family medicine training and those without specialist training were 32.1 (SD = 7.95) and 29.2 (SD = 7.43) respectively, but the difference was not found to be significant. For PEI, patients receiving care from doctors in the hospital clinics scored significantly higher than those in the community clinics, but there was no significant difference in PEI between patients receiving care from doctors with different training backgrounds within similar clinic setting. Conclusion: Family medicine training was associated with higher patient perceived empathy for chronic illness patients in the hospital clinics. Patient enablement appeared to be associated with clinic settings but not doctors’ training background. Training in family medicine and a clinic environment that enables more patient doctor time might help in enhancing doctors’ empathy and enablement for chronic illness patients

Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences 2010 Annual Report

2010 annual report includes: External Funding in 2010; Peer-reviewed publications in 2010; Full-time Affiliate and Voluntary Faculty; Honors, Awards and Appointments in 2010

Work-based assessment within Malta’s specialist training programme in family medicine

The Specialist Training Programme in Family Medicine (STPFM) – Malta was drawn up by the Malta College of Family Doctors in 2006, approved by Malta’s Specialist Accreditation Committee, and launched in 2007 by the Primary Health Care Department and the Malta College of Family Doctors. This article regarding the work-based assessment of specialist training in family medicine in Malta was prepared by consulting various local / international documents and publications that are related to general practice / family medicine and its teaching, appraisal and assessment. Assessment of family doctors should consider their actual performance of different tasks in diverse settings of daily practice; this is carried out on-site by direct observation of the practitioner at the work-place (work-based assessment) using different methods.peer-reviewe

Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences 2007 Annual Report

2007 annual report includes: Greetings from the Chair, Maryjean Schenk; Meet the Faculty and Benefactors; Full-time Affiliate and Voluntary Faculty; Master of Public Health Program; Honors, Awards, and Appointments; Family Medicine Residency; Residency Community Activities; Patient Care at the Family Medicine Centers; Editorial; Research Highlights; Occupational and Environmental Health; External Funding; Highlights from 2007 Publications; Peer-Reviewed Publications; Faculty Development; Undergraduate Medical Education; Editorial and Peer-Review Activities; Presentations at Professional Meetings; Clinical and Community Translational Research; Professional Meetings Hosted; Faculty Involvement in Academic Service; Vision, Mission, and Core Values

Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences 2006 Annual Report: Addressing Health Challenges in Michigan

2006 annual report includes: Greetings from the Chair, Maryjean Schenk; Introducing New Faculty; Full-time affiliate and Voluntary Faculty; In Memoriam: John B. Waller, Jr.; Master of Public Health Program; Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics; Honors, Awards and Appointments; University Family Physicians; Family Medicine Residency; Occupational and Environmental Health; New Grant Highlights; External Funding; Highlights from 2006 Publications; Peer-reviewed Publications; Editorial and Peer-Review Activities; Undergraduate Medical Education Division; Behavioral Science; Presentations and Professional Meetings; Division of Clinical and Community Translational Research; Trends in Faculty Rank and Scholarship

Department of Family Medicine and Public Health Sciences 2008 Annual Report

2008 annual report includes: Greetings from the Chair, Maryjean Schenk; Faculty and Academic Staff; Full-time Affiliate and Voluntary Faculty; Meet the New Faculty; Honors, Awards, and Appointments; New Family Medicine Center; Family Medicine Residency; Undergraduate Medical Education; Community Involvement; Community Network Partnership; Community Research Collaboration; External Funding; Publication Highlights; Publications; Professional Presentations; Academic Service and Peer-Review Activities; In Memoriam - Sandra Joyce Green, Ronald Mark Davis; New Models for Academic Medicine