FaMeS: an innovative pipeline program to foster student interest in family medicine

There is a national shortage of primary care physicians; many medical school departments of family medicine are searching for new ways to attract and retain students who may be interested in primary care. In 2004, our department began a "pipeline" program targeted at entering first-year students that incorporates curricular, extracurricular, summer, and career-planning elements.

The program was evaluated and data collected on the numbers of students who were regular attenders of events, who expressed intent to apply in family medicine at the end of third year, and who ultimately matched in family medicine. Qualitative measures of program success were also noted (comments from students outside the department and the influence of the family medicine interest group).

Data are preliminary but suggest that the Family Medicine Student Track (FaMeS) has increased the numbers of students matching in family medicine from Boston University (BU) during a period when the national average was decreasing. The odds of a BU student matching in family medicine were nearly double (1.94) the odds compared with before the program. The family medicine interest group substantively increased its presence at the medical school and won a national Program of Excellence award.

The FaMeS program appears to be associated with a significant increase of numbers of students matching in family medicine during a time period when the national average decreased. The program is young, and results may be most generalizable to schools, like BU, with a strong specialist presence.