The Residency Assistance Program in family practice

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Family Medicine
• Graduate Medical Education

Background:

• Family practice residency programs require continuous quality improvement.
• A need existed for structured consultative support for program directors.
• Mobilizing consultant expertise was identified as a key strategy.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the development and operational process of the Residency Assistance Program.
• To outline the features of this consultative program for family practice residencies.
• To highlight the program's role in enhancing graduate medical education quality.

Main Methods:

• Established a Project Board with representatives from national family practice organizations.
• Recruited and intensively trained a panel of 30 expert consultants.
• Developed standards for quality graduate education in family practice.
• Implemented a process for scheduling confidential, voluntary consultations upon director request.

Main Results:

• The program facilitates the matching of consultant expertise with residency program needs.
• Consultations are guided by established standards for graduate medical education.
• The confidential and voluntary nature promotes collaborative problem-solving.

Conclusions:

• The Residency Assistance Program provides a valuable framework for improving family practice residency education.
• The program's structure supports a non-punitive, information-sharing consultative process.
• This initiative demonstrates a successful model for quality enhancement in graduate medical education.