Background and Objectives: Medical schools are increasingly challenged to recruit and retain community-based preceptors. Physicians experience various incentives and deterrents to teaching medical students while providing patient care. Self-determination theory (SDT) posits people act in response to internal and external motivations and suggests autonomy, competence, and relatedness are basic psychological needs for well-being and integrity. The applicability of SDT to explain why physicians become or remain a preceptor is uncertain. This study explores physicians’ motivations for precepting medical students within the framework of SDT. Methods: Focus groups were conducted at seven institutions chosen to represent national diversity using a semistructured interview guide based on SDT. Community-based family physicians discussed benefits and barriers to precepting. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded using open codes. Thematic analysis was performed utilizing the conceptual framework of SDT emphasizing the domains of autonomy, competence, and relatedness. Results: Feeling competent about their medical practice and teaching skills, reporting connectedness to the institution and students, and having autonomy over their teaching increased preceptor motivation to teach. Concerns about clinical workload demands, negative teaching experiences, and institutional bureaucracy decreased motivation. Conclusions: Preceptors choose to become and remain preceptors based on a combination of intrinsic motivating factors and effective external motivators. SDT appears to be a useful framework for assessing and responding to the needs of community-based family medicine preceptors and may be a useful guide for medical educators and policy makers seeking to identify and implement effective strategies to recruit and retain community preceptors to work with medical students.

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Highlights Trends identified in rates of fatal opioid overdose, including by region. In general, semisynthetic and synthetic overdose rates were more elastic. Potential implications to policy change associated with synthetic opioid use.

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Human Dx can assess diagnostic reasoning skills. When weaknesses are identified, adaptive learning strategies can push content to promote skill development. This has implications for customizing curricular elements to improve the diagnostic skills of healthcare professionals.

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Health care workers engaged in work that they find personally meaningful are less likely to experience professional burnout. However, health care often involves tedious and burdensome tasks. While physicians are often asked to complete tasks that are less satisfying, creating space to focus on the meaningful parts of patient care is helpful to changing the focus of the mind. We report on the integration of Meaning in Medicine groups in a faculty development program at family medicine residency programs. These groups were created to increase faculty satisfaction, team cohesion, and engagement. Each session starts with an item for reflection – a video, article, or story – and is designed to provide a safe space for discussion of the joys in medicine. Group sizes of 8 to 15, dedicated time, and establishment of ground rules have been essential for success of these meetings.