Primary Care Is Their Focus

Record number of Tufts medical students match in family medicine

Amid the celebrations of Match Day at the School of Medicine on March 16 was one that went by more quietly than most, but was just as much a cause for enthusiasm: Tufts matched 22 students, or 12 percent of the graduating class, to residency programs in family medicine. That is the medical school’s largest number of matches ever in family medicine, more than double the average percentage of the previous three years.

Match Day is an annual ritual at medical schools across the country. It is the day that all U.S. medical students learn where they will spend the next three to seven years in residency.

Increasing the number of primary-care physicians is critical to expanding access to care, improving the nation’s health and controlling health-care costs. The Association of American Medical Colleges’ Center for Workforce Studies predicts that there will be a shortage of 45,000 primary-care physicians in the next decade. The Massachusetts Medical Society’s 2011 Physician Workforce Study reported severe physician shortages in internal and family medicine, both primary-care specialties, for the sixth consecutive year.

Camellia Hernandez, M12, and Rachel Shing, M12, jump for joy at the School of Medicine’s Match Day ceremony on March 16. Hernandez matched at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Shing matched at UCLA Medical Center. Photo: Alonso NicholsCamellia Hernandez, M12, and Rachel Shing, M12, jump for joy at the School of Medicine’s Match Day ceremony on March 16. Hernandez matched at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., and Shing matched at UCLA Medical Center. Photo: Alonso Nichols
In response to the physician shortage, the School of Medicine expanded its class size in 2009. That same year, it partnered with Maine Medical Center on a program that provides students with experience in rural practice as well as training in a major tertiary medical center. Earlier this year, Tufts announced the launch of a new physician assistant program to help physicians provide access to care.

“Another core step was redeveloping our curriculum to focus students on taking a patient-centered approach, a core value of primary care,” says Amy Kuhlik, dean of students at the medical school. Tufts introduces its students to primary care earlier than most medical schools.

In addition to the hands-on training in local communities, curriculum changes included a six-week rotation in family medicine for all students. Students train in doctors’ offices, community health centers and academic teaching practices throughout New England.

“Tufts students who choose family medicine are interested in making a difference in the communities that they serve and improving health-care outcomes in populations,” says Randy Wertheimer, the Jaharis Chair of Family Medicine at Tufts and chief of the department of family medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance.

 

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