Graduate medical education in ambulatory care

Graduate medical education is currently in transition, with educators being asked to re-examine the extent to which hospital-based teaching models still provide adequate comprehensive training. To educate future physicians adequately, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) will have to change its system for delivering ambulatory care services and for teaching in ambulatory care settings. Workshop discussions focused on five major areas regarding educating residents in the ambulatory setting: educational goals and objectives, clinical experiences, curriculum development and evaluation, faculty issues, and fellowship opportunities. Recommendations include the need for residency programs to develop explicit educational goals and objectives for resident training, the identification of transdepartmental needs and coordinated planning, the support of academic clinical faculty, research and development of educational programs, and further development of fellowship training in ambulatory care. Further integration of ambulatory care activities in graduate training will require significant effort, a shift in manpower and resources and, more fundamentally, a shift in attitude and commitment at all levels of the VA and medical schools.