The Impact of Family Medicine Interest Groups and Student-Run Free Clinics on Primary Care Career Choice: A Narrative Synthesis. Fam Med 2022 Jul;54(7):531-535
Date
07/15/2022Pubmed ID
35833933DOI
10.22454/FamMed.2022.436125Scopus ID
2-s2.0-85134013684 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 6 CitationsAbstract
BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Student-directed activities such as family medicine interest groups (FMIG) and student-run free clinics (SRFC) have been examined to discover their impact on entry into family medicine and primary care. The objective of this review was to synthesize study results to better incorporate and optimize these activities to support family medicine and primary care choice.
METHODS: We conducted a comprehensive literature search using PubMed, Scopus, and CINAHL to identify all English-language research articles on FMIG and SRFC. We examined how participation relates to entry into family medicine and primary care specialties. Exclusion criteria were nonresearch articles, review articles, and research conducted outside the United States, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. We used a 16-point quality rubric to evaluate 18 (11 FMIG, seven SRFC) articles that met our criteria.
RESULTS: Of the nine articles that examined whether FMIG participation impacted entry into family medicine, five papers noted a positive relationship, one paper noted unclear correlation, and three papers noted that FMIG did not impact entry into family medicine. Of the seven articles about SRFC, only one showed a positive relationship between SRFC activity and entry into primary care.
CONCLUSIONS: Larger-scale and higher quality studies are necessary to determine the impact of FMIG and SRFC on entry into family medicine and primary care. However, available evidence supports that FMIG participation is positively associated with family medicine career choice. In contrast, SRFC participation is not clearly associated with primary care career choice.
Author List
Sairenji T, Kost A, Prunuske J, Wendling AL, Morley CP, Polverento ME, Young V, Phillips JPAuthor
Jacob P. Prunuske MD Assistant Dean, Professor in the Medical School Regional Campuses department at Medical College of WisconsinMESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
Career ChoiceFamily Practice
Humans
Primary Health Care
Public Opinion
Student Run Clinic
Students, Medical
United States
