Resident development in family practice training: a personal counseling program

A family physician's personal development and professional functioning are strongly meshed. Family practice residencies need to implement programs which promote personal development and support the integration of the resident's personal and professional development. This paper describes and evaluates the personal counseling program in the Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, from 1973 through 1978. The evolution of goals and their implementation are outlined. Providing resident counseling as part of a family medicine curriculum presents problems which are generic to primary care. These problems and their solutions, within the model of resident development, are defined and addressed.