Inpatient Pediatric Training of Family Medicine Residents: A Pediatric Perspective

Family physicians contribute significantly to the pediatric workforce, but little is known about their pediatric training during residency, specifically in the inpatient setting. Our objective was to gather data on the inpatient pediatric training of family medicine residents from the perspective of pediatric faculty.

We created a survey about inpatient pediatric training of family medicine residents, including pediatric rotation characteristics, ward team structure, educational resources, and faculty involvement. The Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD) accepted the survey for distribution to pediatric residency associate program directors. Demographic data about respondents were provided by APPD. Data were collected between January and February 2024. We performed descriptive analysis of survey responses.

We received 74 responses from 190 institutions, for a response rate of 39%. Of the respondents, 81% provided training to family medicine residents. We found wide variability in the structure of this training. Only 7% of sites reported having curricula specific to training family medicine residents in inpatient pediatric care. Inpatient pediatricians (76%) are often tasked with creating rotation structure and curricula for training family medicine residents.

In the view provided by our limited survey population, we found variability in the training structure and content of pediatric inpatient experiences; few family medicine-specific curricular tools are being used for this training, with little to no family medicine faculty involvement in this training. An opportunity may be available for collaboration between pediatric and family medicine faculty to establish a foundation for future curricula.