Applying Faculty Practice Metrics to Residency Clinics: Implications for Continuity of Care, Patient Experience, and Resident Wellness

Continuity of care and patient experience metrics are increasingly used by health systems to evaluate outpatient clinical performance. However, these benchmarks are often derived from faculty-only practices and applied uniformly to residency teaching clinics without sufficient consideration of structural differences inherent to graduate medical education. Residency clinics face unique challenges related to variable trainee schedules, competing educational demands, and team-based care models, all of which can negatively influence continuity measures and patient satisfaction scores such as Press Ganey. This editorial examines the limitations of applying faculty-practice performance metrics to residency settings and highlights how misaligned expectations may inadvertently affect patient care, resident experience, and program evaluation. Drawing on current family medicine literature and operational leadership experience, the article proposes practical, systems-level strategies for contextualizing performance data, refining scheduling models, and aligning evaluation frameworks with the dual missions of education and patient care. A more nuanced interpretation of continuity and satisfaction metrics may allow health system leaders to better support residency clinics while preserving accountability and quality improvement goals.