Background: Recent decreases in the number of students entering family medicine has prompted reconsideration of what is known about the factors affecting specialty choice.Methods: Thirty-six articles on family medicine specialty choice published since 1993 were reviewed and rated for quality.Results: Rural background related positively and parents' socioeconomic status relates negatively to choice of family medicine. Career intentions at entry to medical school predict specialty choice. Students who believe primary care is important, have low income expectations, and do not plan a research career are more likely to choose family medicine. The school characteristic related to choice of family medicine is public ownership. Large programs to increase numbers entering primary care seem effective. Required family medicine time in clinical years is related to higher numbers selecting family medicine.

Background Childhood obesity is a growing epidemic in family medicine with few clinical treatment options. We implemented and evaluated a group office-visit intervention by family physicians emphasizing nutrition and physical activity within a resiliency psychosocial model, for overweight children and their parents. Methods The intervention lasted for 3 months, with half of the children crossing over to intervention after 6 months on study. Participants included 35 children who met eligibility criteria of being in third through fifth grades and having a body mass index above the 85th percentile. The 3-month twelve-session intervention, “Choices”, included topics on nutrition, physical activity, and resiliency. The sessions were developed for delivery by a family physician, and a nutritionist, who all received training in positive psychology and resilience skills. Main outcome measures were body mass index (BMI) z-scores for age-and-gender, and weight-for-age-and-gender z-scores, as well as qualitative interviews to understand individual and family processes. Results The intervention resulted in a significant effect on one primary outcome, BMI z-score (-0.138 per 9 months (p =0.017) and a trend toward significance on the other, weight for age z-score (-0.87 per 9 months (p=0.09). The net shift of activity from the low METS to the high METS had an intervention effect of 2.84 METS (p = 0.037). Families reported lasting changes in behaviors and attitudes. Discussion The innovative approach used in this study demonstrated modest efficacy in reducing BMI z-score, changing physical activity levels, and possibly shifting family dynamics.

The authors evaluated and reviewed the literature on the effects of medical school curricula, faculty role models, and federal biomedical research support on the specialty choices of U.S. medical students. All 275 articles on these subjects published from 1984 through 1993 were considered. An instrument was developed to assess the quality of the articles. A total of 85 articles met study criteria and were reviewed. The mean score achieved was 42.7% of the total possible points. Major educational reforms emphasizing primary care have resulted in significant increases in the percentages of graduates choosing generalist careers. Except for required clinical training in family practice, individual curriculum components have generally not been successful. Students and physicians often stated that faculty role models influenced specialty choices, and there is some evidence that faculty composition is related to students' career choices. There was a consistent inverse correlation between the amount of federal biomedical research support received and the percentage of a school's graduates choosing generalist careers. It is unknown whether this relationship is causative and, if so, how research funds affect specialty choices. The best strategies to enlarge the proportion of medical students choosing generalist careers include institutional reform to emphasize generalist training, increasing the size of generalist faculty, and requiring clinical training in family practice. The relationship of federal biomedical research support to the specialty choices of medical students needs to be studied further. Research on specialty choice could be improved by including a larger number of schools and students, studying trends over several years, and using validated measures and outcomes, control groups, and multivariate analyses.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

BACKGROUND: Individuals with limited literacy and those with depression share many characteristics, including low self‐esteem, feelings of worthlessness, and shame. OBJECTIVE: To determine whether literacy education, provided along with standard depression treatment to adults with depression and limited literacy, would result in greater improvement in depression than would standard depression treatment alone. DESIGN: Randomized clinical trial with patients assigned either to an intervention group that received standard depression treatment plus literacy education, or a control group that received only standard depression treatment. PARTICIPANTS: Seventy adult patients of a community health center who tested positive for depression using the 9‐question Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ‐9) and had limited literacy based on the Rapid Estimate of Adult Literacy in Medicine (REALM). MEASUREMENTS: Depression severity was assessed with PHQ‐9 scores at baseline and at 3 follow‐up evaluations that took place up to 1 year after study enrollment. Changes in PHQ‐9 scores between baseline and follow‐up evaluations were compared between the intervention and control groups. RESULTS: The median PHQ‐9 scores were similar in both the intervention and control groups at baseline (12.5 and 14, respectively). Nine‐question Patient Health Questionnaire scores improved in both groups, but the improvement was significantly larger in the intervention group. The final follow‐up PHQ‐9 scores declined to 6 in the intervention group but only to 10 in the control group. CONCLUSIONS: There may be benefit to assessing the literacy skills of patients who are depressed, and recommending that patients with both depression and limited literacy consider enrolling in adult education classes as an adjuvant treatment for depression.

The results suggest that the most effective way to increase the number of physicians with generalist practices is to increase the number of students interested in a family medicine career at matriculation.