Specialty practice of family practice residency graduates, 1969 through 1993. A national study
N. B. Kahn Jr, G. Schmittling, D. Ostergaard and R. Graham
Division of Education, American Academy of Family Physicians, Kansas City, MO 64114, USA.
OBJECTIVE: To describe demographic and practice characteristics of
physicians who graduated from family practice residency training programs.
DESIGN: Information was obtained from the databases of the American Academy
of Family Physicians, the American Board of Family Practice (ABFP), and the
American Medical Association. Data sets were cross-referenced, and
quantitative data from medical membership organizations and the certifying
board were summarized. Information regarding medical school graduation and
family practice residency completion was reported by the participating
residency programs, and data on practice specialty were self-designated by
the participating physicians. SUBJECTS: Physician graduates of
Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education-accredited family
practice residency programs from 1969 through 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES:
Practice specialty designation by graduates of family practice residency
programs. RESULTS: Of the 38659 physicians who graduated from family
practice residency programs from 1969 through 1993, 8780 (23%) were women,
2181 (6%) were graduates of colleges of osteopathic medicine, 4777 (12%)
were international medical graduates, and 33484 (87%) were certified by the
ABFP. Of the 36088 family practice residency graduates who designated a
practice specialty, 32764 (91%) identified their specialty as family
practice, including 32608 physicians who identified family practice, 129
general practice, 21 family practice-geriatric medicine, and six family
practice-sports medicine. Among the 3324 family practice residency
graduates (9%) who identified themselves as practicing in another
specialty, the most common specialties were emergency medicine (1446
physicians [4%]) and preventive medicine (386 physicians [1%]). No other
practice specialty was designated by more that 0.5% of family practice
residency graduates. CONCLUSION: The vast majority of family practice
residency graduates are self-designated as practicing family medicine.
These data suggest that family practice residency programs are an effective
mechanism for the production of generalist physicians.
