Task Force Report 2. Report of the Task Force on Medical Education

Abstract

BACKGROUND For family physicians to be prepared to deliver the core attributes and system services of family medicine in the future, especially within the New Model of family medicine that has been proposed, changes will need to be made in how family physicians are trained. This Future of Family Medicine task force report presents a plan for implementing appropriate changes in medical school and residency programs.

METHODS As a foundation for the development of specific recommendations on medical education, this task force reviewed relevant findings from research conducted for the Future of Family Medicine project and presents an historical perspective of the specialty. We addressed accreditation criteria for family medicine residency programs and examined various relevant projects and programs, including the Academic Family Medicine Organizations/Association of Family Practice Residency Directors Action Plan, the Residency Assistance Program Criteria for Excellence, the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Outcome Project, the Family Medicine Curriculum Resource Project, and the Arizona Study of Career Selection Factors. The task force relied on the Institute of Medicine report, Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality, as a foundation for proposing a new vision and mission for family medicine residency education.

MAJOR FINDINGS The training of future family physicians must be grounded in evidence-based medicine that is relevant to the care of the whole person in a relationship and community context. It also must be technologically up to date, built on a solid foundation of clinical science, and strong in the components of interpersonal and behavioral skills. Family physicians must continue to be broadly trained and have the competencies required to practice in a variety of settings. It is important that training in maternity care and training in the care of hospitalized patients continue to be included in the family medicine residency curriculum, but programs must be allowed to tailor that curriculum to be compatible with educational resources and individual trainee needs.

CONCLUSION Given the changes taking place in the specialty and within the broader health care system, it is clear that the traditional family medicine curriculum, although successful in the past, cannot meet the needs of the future. The educational process must train competent family physicians who will provide a personal medical home for their patients, a key concept that must be an integral part of whatever new systems are designed. Such competency will require family physicians who understand and practice process-oriented care, who utilize the biopsychosocial model to create superb physician-patient relationships, who actively measure outcomes, and whose practices are driven by information system access to evidence-based principles of care.