Expectations of the Competencies of Entering Family Medicine Residents: Do Members of the Family Agree? A CERA Study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Little information is available on what competencies family medicine program directors expect of incoming residents and whether those incoming residents can deliver on such expectations. Our aim was to determine whether there is a common set of skills that both family medicine clerkship directors and program directors agree are important for entering residents to possess and how often these are being demonstrated. METHODS: This study is an analysis of data obtained in the 2014 CERA Family Medicine Clerkship Director and Program Director surveys. Clerkship directors and program directors were provided with a list of skill areas and professional characteristics and asked to rate how important it is for medical school graduates to demonstrate them as well as how many medical school graduates consistently demonstrate each skill or characteristic. RESULTS: Both groups placed highest importance on honesty, professionalism, and communication skills among incoming residents. Clerkship directors placed higher importance on several skill areas, with program directors emphasizing professional characteristics. This division was also seen in the opinions of the two groups for how well entering residents demonstrated each area. CONCLUSIONS: Clerkship directors identify several skill sets as being more important for graduating medical students to possess compared with program directors. Program directors seem to value more personal characteristics as important for entering residents to possess rather than skills. Future implications may include a focus from family medicine clerkships on skills that are valued by program directors but not rated as commonly seen among incoming residents.

Obesity and metabolic disease.

Obesity independently increases the risk of developing diabetes 10-fold compared with that for patients who are normal weight. Overweight patients with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) or impaired fasting glucose (IFG) should be given counseling on weight loss of 5% to 10% of body weight as well as on increasing physical activity to at least 150 min/wk to prevent progression to diabetes. American Diabetes Association (ADA) recommends screening patients older than 45 years with a body mass index (BMI) greater than or equal to 25 for diabetes with fasting glucose every 3 years. Testing should be considered at a younger age or performed more frequently for those who are overweight and have 1 or more risk factors for diabetes.