How Different Are Family Medicine Residents Who Desire Additional Training?

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Physician Workforce Studies
• Graduate Medical Education

Background:

• Limited understanding of fellowship training's impact on physician outcomes.
• Uncertainty regarding resident interest in extended residency programs.

Purpose of the Study:

• Examine fellowship training trends.
• Compare residency and practice outcomes based on fellowship interest.
• Determine resident desire for additional training year.

Main Methods:

• Utilized American Board of Family Medicine Initial Certification Questionnaire (2017-2019) and National Graduate Survey (2020-2022) data.
• Employed bivariate analysis and chi-squared tests for trend and association analysis.

Main Results:

• Most graduates (71.0%) were not interested in additional training.
• Fellowship interest did not correlate with in-training exam, certification scores, or milestones.
• Fellowship-interested residents were more likely to become faculty and less likely to experience burnout.

Conclusions:

• Fellowship intention is linked to faculty positions, lower burnout, and continuity of care.
• A significant majority of family medicine residents (>70%) do not prefer an extra residency year.