Changes in Preparation and Practice Patterns Among New Family Physicians

Abstract

Family physicians' scope of practice is declining despite being well prepared to provide a range of clinical services. To evaluate whether this is a new phenomenon, we compared the proportions of regional family medicine residency graduates who report practicing and those who report feeling more than adequately prepared to practice various procedures and clinical services from 2 points in time-a survey in 2000 of graduates from 1996-1999 (n = 293) and a survey in 2012 or 2014 of graduates from 2010-2013 (n = 408). The recent graduates felt better prepared, but reported a narrower scope of practice than those who graduated more than a decade earlier. These findings suggest that family medicine residency training has improved over time but the declining scope of practice is a concerning trend.