Resident partnerships: an effective strategy for training in primary care

To facilitate resident training in the ambulatory setting, a few family practice residency programs use a partnership system to train residents. Partnerships are pairs of residents from the same year that rotate together on inpatient services. We identified and characterized the advantages and disadvantages of partnership programs in family practice residencies.

We conducted a national survey of family practice residencies, followed by phone interviews with residency directors of programs with partnerships.

A total of 305 of 407 (75%) residencies responded; 10 programs fit our definition of partnership. Program directors were positive about resident partnerships. Benefits included improved outpatient continuity, enhanced medical communication skills, and emotional and intellectual support. Disadvantages were decreased inpatient exposure and difficulty coordinating residents' schedules.

Directors were favorable about partnerships, which seem to be an underutilized technique to improve residency training.