Tag Archives: Medical Student

A Family Medicine Provider’s Reflections on World AIDS Day

Jarrett Sell, MD

Jarrett Sell, MD

I consider my path to caring for persons affected by human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) to be atypical, but maybe that is true of many family medicine providers involved in HIV care—only a minority of family medicine providers in the United States offer HIV care.

I, like many family medicine residents recently graduating from residency, assumed that HIV care was too complex and rapidly changing for me to become involved and that it would be unlikely to impact my future practice, particularly since I was planning to practice in a rural area.  I thought that this was a condition that is best left to the care of specialists or those that planned to practice in the inner cities of San Francisco or New York. What I did not realize at the time was that HIV is everywhere and cannot be ignored by family medicine providers.

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Too Much of Anything Is Bad: Advising Students on the Number of Programs to Apply to

By David Anthony, MD, MSc, Alec Chessman, MD, Kristina Duarte, MD, ScM, Katie Margo, MD, of Medicine Jacob Prunuske, MD, MSPH, and Martha Seagrave, PA-C.

This is in response to a previous blog post, How Faculty Can Prepare Students for the Match.

In an effort to address the increasing challenge of assisting students in obtaining family medicine positions in the Match, Michelfelder et al recently published a set of recommendations derived from discussions at sessions presented at the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine (STFM) Conference on Medical Student Education (MSE) and the Association of Departments of Family Medicine Conference. We commend the authors on their important work, and we support many of their recommendations, including:

  • Encouraging increased communication between medical school advisors and program directors
  • Discouraging students who do not “see themselves as thriving as family physicians” from applying to family medicine programs

However, we take issue with one of their recommendations, and pose an alternate viewpoint.

The authors state that “Most clerkship directors recommend students apply to 20–40 programs to increase interview offers.” While this statement may represent the prevailing voiced opinion during the lecture discussion at MSE, we take issue with the claim that most clerkship directors recommend students apply to 20–40 programs, and we vigorously disagree with the recommendation. Broadly encouraging students to apply to such a large number of programs will worsen the challenges of students in obtaining interviews and residency positions.

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Experiencing Primary Care From Opposite Sides of the Spectrum: Clerkships Can Influence the Career Path of Medical Students

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Danial Jilani, MPH

The uncertainty surrounding primary care is arguably the highest it has ever been. Many medical students entering their third-year clerkships have preformed conclusions about primary care. At the face of a federal health care overhaul, declining reimbursements, and a workforce shortage estimated to reach 21,000 by 2015, for some medical students the future of primary care seems unpredictable. A third-year experience in family medicine and ambulatory medicine can be an imperative influence in the career path of a medical student.

Third-year students at Wright State University Boonshoft School of Medicine (WSU-BSOM) complete a 6-week family medicine rotation where they spend time with preceptors in a variety of settings, including private offices, indigent clinics, academic settings, and more. During my clerkship, I had the honor of working with Dr Joseph Allen, a recipient of the AAFP Foundation’s 2012 Pfizer Teacher Development award.

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