Family Medicine Clerkship Directors' Influence on the Residency Program Selection Process: A CERA Study

Residency directors and their associated programs devote a considerable amount of time and effort recruiting medical students. Family medicine clerkship directors may be in a position to influence a student's decision regarding specific residency programs. In this study we examined the frequency and content of discussions between family medicine clerkship directors and medical students regarding residency programs.

Data were collected as part of the 2014 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) Family Medicine Clerkship Director Survey. A list of 13 residency program features was provided, and clerkship directors were asked to categorize each item on a 5-point Likert scale assessing their importance with regards to recommendation or quality.

The response rate was 91%. Nearly all clerkship directors (99.2%) reported that medical students often or occasionally ask their opinion regarding specific residency programs. The three most common factors considered by clerkship directors to be very or extremely influential when recommending a program are accreditation status (73.1%), location (70.3%), and curriculum (68.3%). To determine quality of a program, accreditation status (80.7%), curriculum (80.0%), and faculty reputation for teaching (78.3%) were most often cited. Marginal agreement was noted for location, board pass rate, attrition rate, and curriculum.

Since nearly all clerkship directors report that medical students ask their opinion regarding specific residency programs, program directors and faculty may wish to enhance their communication with these individuals in regards to specific attributes of their residency program.