Family medicine
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Much can be gained by the three primary care disciplines collaborating on efforts to transform residency training toward interprofessional collaborative practice. We describe findings from a study designed to align primary care disciplines toward implementing interprofessional education. ⋯ Uniting the primary care disciplines toward educational and clinical transformation toward interprofessional collaborative practice is challenging to accomplish.
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The growing prevalence of obesity in the United States and globally highlights the need for innovative strategies to provide obesity treatment in primary care settings. This report describes and evaluates the Weight Management Program (WMP), an interprofessional program in an academic family medicine clinic delivering intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) following evidenced-based guidelines. ⋯ WMP provides one model for primary care practices to develop a financially sustainable and evidence-based behavioral therapy weight management program for their patients with obesity. Future work will include assessment of longer-term program benefits, quality metrics, and health care costs.
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Academic medical centers (AMC) are among some of the most expensive places to provide care. One way to cut costs is by decreasing unnecessary referrals to specialists for procedures that can be provided by well-trained primary care physicians. Our goal is to measure the financial impact of an office-based minor procedure service driven entirely by family physicians. ⋯ A family medicine minor procedure service significantly lowered health spending at our AMC.
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According to a previous study, obstetric deliveries may be protective against burnout for family physicians. Analyses of interviews conducted during a larger qualitative study about the experiences of early-career family physicians who intended to include obstetric deliveries in their practice revealed that many interviewees discussed burnout. This study aimed to understand the relationship between practicing obstetrics and burnout based on an analysis of these emerging data on burnout. ⋯ This study identifies a family medicine-obstetric paradox wherein obstetrics can simultaneously protect from and contribute to burnout for family physicians. Professional agency may partially explain this paradox.
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Although the subinternship (sub-I) is considered integral in many medical schools' curricula, family medicine does not have standardized course recommendations. Given the variable nature of this clinical experience, this study investigated the potential role of a standardized sub-I curriculum in family medicine. ⋯ A sub-I is a way to further expose students to family medicine, and increasing sub-I positions at residency programs may influence the number who pursue the specialty. Creation of a standardized sub-I curriculum presents an opportunity to enhance a critical educational experience in family medicine.