Family medicine
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In 2014, family medicine residency programs began to integrate point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) into training, although very few had an established POCUS curriculum. This study aimed to evaluate the resources, barriers, and scope of POCUS training in family medicine residencies 5 years after its inception. ⋯ Training in POCUS has increased in family medicine residencies over the last 5 years, although practical use of this technology in the clinical setting may be lagging behind. Further research should explore how POCUS can improve outcomes and reduce costs in the primary care setting to better inform training for this technology.
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Tensions between clinical and hospital training, along with dysfunctional family medicine training clinics, have resulted in continuity clinic being the least favorite part of training for some residents. These factors are all contributors to burnout. We hypothesized that following Clinic First action steps to prioritize and enhance outpatient clinic would positively affect resident wellness and clinic engagement. This study describes our interventions and their effects within the Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) Family Medicine 4-year Portland residency program. ⋯ This study demonstrates that Clinic First-inspired structural changes can be associated with improvement in resident perceptions of wellness and aspects of clinic engagement. This can give educators a sense of hope as well as tangible steps to take to improve these difficult and important issues.
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Rates of injection drug use and associated medical complications have increased, yet engagement of persons who inject drugs (PWID) in primary care is limited, with significant barriers to care. Family physicians play an important role in caring for PWID, but residency training is limited. This study aimed to assess role responsibility, self-efficacy, and attitudes of family medicine residents in caring for PWID. ⋯ This study identifies gaps between provider responsibility and current graduate medical education training. We identified training that increases screening, harm reduction practices, and referrals to community resources as needs. This baseline assessment of family medicine residents can be used to develop educational interventions to meet regional and national health needs for harm reduction for PWID and workforce development.
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Physician discomfort, embarrassment, and perceived lack of time and/or training all play a role in preventing physicians from discussing sexual health with patients. Past research shows this discomfort begins in medical school. We aimed to determine whether teaching sexual health education increases medical students' self-efficacy in discussing sexual health topics with adolescents. ⋯ Programs similar to Sex Ed by Brown Med may be useful in improving medical students' ability to adequately care for their patients' sexual health by making future clinicians more comfortable when discussing the important topic of sexuality, and concurrently providing evidence-based comprehensive sexual health education to middle school students. Further research is needed to determine the impact of our program (and similar programs) before disseminating this model of sexual education.