Accepted Type
Oral
Code
OA3-1-4
Acceptance Declaration
Accept
Additional Information
I declare I have no actual or potential conflict of interest in relation to this program.
Was this work accepted for CCME 2020?
no
Category
General Call (Workshop, Oral Presentation, Poster Presentation)
Type
Oral
Sub Type
Education Research
Will the presenter be a:
Jr. Faculty (less than 5 years in practice)
Affiliation
Considered for Poster
yes
Title
Practice Intentions and Practice Choices of Early Career Physicians in Canada
Length of Presentation
Background/Purpose
One of the key foci for medical education other than ensuring competence is influencing the choices of learners in relation to their specialty, scope of practice and location of practice. These choices have implications for workforce planning. The purpose of this study was to compare practice intentions of exiting family medicine (FM) graduates with practice choices made by early career family physicians (FPs) related to scope of practice and factors that influenced their choices.
Methods
Using Family Medicine Longitudinal Surveys (FMLSs), aggregate-level secondary data and thematic analysis on responses to two partially open-ended questions was conducted for FM residents that exited residency in 2015 (n=632, RR=54.3%), 2016 (n=785, RR=60.1%) and early career FPs (first 3 years in practice) in 2018 (n=206, RR=17.2%) and 2019 (n=357, RR=23.7%).
Results
In both cohorts, there were statistically significant declines in the proportion of FPs reporting involvement in various activities in relation to their scope of practice compared to their practice intentions. The greatest declines were seen in long-term care facilities, rural communities, emergency departments, intrapartum and indigenous care. System, organizational and personal factors were identified as reasons for not undertaking these activities.
Conclusion
Practice choices do not match practice intentions of early career FPs. Medical education may influence the intentions and choices of graduates however factors outside of medical education influence what they actually do. Knowledge of the factors that influence practice choices will assist workforce planners, medical educators and stakeholders to support opportunities for FPs as well as address social accountability and access to care.
Keyword 1
practice patterns
Keyword 2
workforce planning
Keyword 3
family physicians
Level of Training
Post Graduate
Abstract Themes
Postgraduate
Additional Theme (First choice)
Postgraduate
Additional Theme (Second Choice)
Additional Theme (Third Choice)
Authors
Presenter
Monica Aggarwal
Term 1
Yes
Term 2
Yes
Term 3
Yes
Term 4
Yes
Term 5
Yes
