Financing and budgeting of community-based family medicine residency programs

Using an Internet-based survey for the fiscal year 2003 to 2004, 56 community-based family medicine residency programs participated in primary research of current financing and expenditures. A median of dollar 194,125 was invested in training each resident annually. The bulk of funding stemmed from sponsoring institution support and clinical care revenues. The majority of programs did not receive Title VII funds, state, local, or philanthropic support. Clinical care activity continued a historical trend of increases. There were 1,076 patient visits per resident full-time equivalent, producing 39.5% of program financing. The percentage of visits provided to those with Medicaid was 35.9%. Expenses included a calculated malpractice rate of dollar 17,097 per faculty full-time equivalent. This effort provides a database available for further expansion, a comparison to medical school-based residency programs, analyses for reflection on program characteristics, and future comparison of historical trends.