Family physicians have historically been an important part of maternity care in this country, especially in rural and underserved areas. Despite this fact, there has been a steady decline in the percentage of family physicians that practice obstetrics. Some of the reasons for this decline are physician choice of life-style without obstetrical call, rising medical malpractice costs, and a perceived lack of adequate training by graduates of family medicine residency programs.
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New Residency Review Committee (RRC) recommendations are about to be released for family medicine residency programs which will reduce the number of required deliveries for those who are not interested in practicing obstetrics from 40 deliveries to 20 deliveries. Similarly, for those residents who are interested in practicing obstetrics after residency, the required number of deliveries will be increased to 80. Because of these looming changes, we may be at the advent of a shortage in teachers in maternity care in family medicine.
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Residency Review Committee- Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
Ironically, given these trends, training strong teachers in family medicine obstetrics will be critical to the survival of family medicine residents learning to provide obstetrical care. It has been documented that residency graduates are more likely to practice maternity care if they were trained by family medicine faculty who provide maternity care, specifically those with advanced procedural skills.
About half of the graduates of formal family medicine-obstetrics fellowships are faculty at various residencies across the country. Given the new RRC requirements to better train our residents, we should work to ensure the next generation of teachers in family medicine-obstetrics and maternal child health has some kind of formal faculty development training.
The literature supports the fact that programs that help family physicians teach obstetrical skills to residents, such as the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics, or ALSO, course, have had an important role in training family physicians to be well prepared in various obstetrical scenarios. Currently, the literature is lacking to show how formal faculty development may help propagate obstetrical training in family medicine residencies.
Click the link below for more information about ALSO:
Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) -- American Academy of Family Physicians
There is rich literature to support faculty development for teachers in family medicine in general. Many studies support the creation of faculty development programs because they have been found to be beneficial for the enhancement of teaching skills. Specifically, programs that were short term, such as 1-2 weeks, but longitudinal, for a total of up to 5 weeks over the course of a year, were found to be valuable because they allowed faculty to learn the skills needed to become more effective teachers without detracting from their clinical responsibilities. Similarly, there is evidence to support that even short workshops, such as those that occur on weekends, can improve teaching. Therefore, we decided to look at the utility of introducing a formal faculty development curriculum as part of a broader maternal child health curriculum for fellows to produce better teachers in the area of family medicine-obstetrics.
Click below for more information about the RRC:
Residency Review Committee- Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education
Ironically, given these trends, training strong teachers in family medicine obstetrics will be critical to the survival of family medicine residents learning to provide obstetrical care. It has been documented that residency graduates are more likely to practice maternity care if they were trained by family medicine faculty who provide maternity care, specifically those with advanced procedural skills.
About half of the graduates of formal family medicine-obstetrics fellowships are faculty at various residencies across the country. Given the new RRC requirements to better train our residents, we should work to ensure the next generation of teachers in family medicine-obstetrics and maternal child health has some kind of formal faculty development training. The literature supports the fact that programs that help family physicians teach obstetrical skills to residents, such as the Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics, or ALSO, course, have had an important role in training family physicians to be well prepared in various obstetrical scenarios. Currently, the literature is lacking to show how formal faculty development may help propagate obstetrical training in family medicine residencies.
Click the link below for more information about ALSO:
Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics (ALSO) -- American Academy of Family Physicians
There is rich literature to support faculty development for teachers in family medicine in general. Many studies support the creation of faculty development programs because they have been found to be beneficial for the enhancement of teaching skills. Specifically, programs that were short term, such as 1-2 weeks, but longitudinal, for a total of up to 5 weeks over the course of a year, were found to be valuable because they allowed faculty to learn the skills needed to become more effective teachers without detracting from their clinical responsibilities. Similarly, there is evidence to support that even short workshops, such as those that occur on weekends, can improve teaching. Therefore, we decided to look at the utility of introducing a formal faculty development curriculum as part of a broader maternal child health curriculum for fellows to produce better teachers in the area of family medicine-obstetrics.
