A comparison of university-based and community-based family practice residency programs

The issue of differences between university-hospital-based and community-hospital-based family practice residency programs was studied in a network that included five community programs and one large university program. American Board of Family Practice (ABFP) Intraining Examination scores and ABFP board certification scores indicated comparative cognitive knowledge. A graduate follow-up study compared post-residency experience of the graduates of both types of programs. Conclusions from the study showed little difference between subjects trained in the two types of programs. Differences in examination scores were not significant. Small differences in graduate perception of adequacy of preparation for content areas and in postresidency practice characteristics seemed equally insignificant, but were not amenable to statistical testing.