Phoenix Newsletter - October 2025 President’s Message: Enduring Commitments in a Time of Change Read President’s Message: Enduring Commitments in a Time of Change
Home Research Research Library Academic Achievement and Competency in Rural and Urban Family Medicine Residents Academic Achievement and Competency in Rural and Urban Family Medicine Residents 2023 Author(s) Peterson, Lars E, Morgan, Zachary J, Andrilla, C Holly A, Pollack, Samantha W, Longenecker, Randall, Schmitz, David F, and Patterson, Davis G Topic(s) Education & Training, and Family Medicine Certification Keyword(s) Cognitive Expertise, In-Training Examination, and Rural Volume Family Medicine Source Family Medicine “Background and objectives: The quality of training in rural family medicine (FM) residencies has been questioned. Our objective was to assess differences in academic performance between rural and urban FM residencies. Methods: We used American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) data from 2016-2018 residency graduates. Medical knowledge was measured by the ABFM in-training examination (ITE) and Family Medicine Certification Examination (FMCE). The milestones included 22 items across six core competencies. We measured whether residents met expectations on each milestone at each assessment. Multilevel regression models determined associations between resident and residency characteristics milestones met at graduation, FMCE score, and failure. Results: Our final sample was 11,790 graduates. First-year ITE scores were similar between rural and urban residents. Rural residents passed their initial FMCE at a lower rate than urban residents (96.2% vs 98.9%) with the gap closing upon later attempts (98.8% vs 99.8%). Being in a rural program was not associated with a difference in FMCE score but was associated with higher odds of failure. Interactions between program type and year were not significant, indicating equal growth in knowledge. The proportions of rural vs urban residents who met all milestones and each of six core competencies were similar early in residency but diverged over time with fewer rural residents meeting all expectations. Conclusions: We found small, but persistent differences in measures of academic performance between rural- and urban-trained FM residents. The implications of these findings in judging the quality of rural programs are much less clear and warrant further study, including their impact on rural patient outcomes and community health.” ABFM Research Read all 2019 Report from the FMAHealth Practice Core Team: Achieving the Quadruple Aim through Practice Transformation Go to Report from the FMAHealth Practice Core Team: Achieving the Quadruple Aim through Practice Transformation 2021 The Growth of Family Medicine Resident Debt Go to The Growth of Family Medicine Resident Debt 2015 Transforming Training to Build the Family Physician Workforce Our Country Needs Go to Transforming Training to Build the Family Physician Workforce Our Country Needs 2022 From ABFM: Breakthroughs: What has the NASEM Report Done for You Lately? Go to From ABFM: Breakthroughs: What has the NASEM Report Done for You Lately?
Author(s) Peterson, Lars E, Morgan, Zachary J, Andrilla, C Holly A, Pollack, Samantha W, Longenecker, Randall, Schmitz, David F, and Patterson, Davis G Topic(s) Education & Training, and Family Medicine Certification Keyword(s) Cognitive Expertise, In-Training Examination, and Rural Volume Family Medicine Source Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2019 Report from the FMAHealth Practice Core Team: Achieving the Quadruple Aim through Practice Transformation Go to Report from the FMAHealth Practice Core Team: Achieving the Quadruple Aim through Practice Transformation 2021 The Growth of Family Medicine Resident Debt Go to The Growth of Family Medicine Resident Debt 2015 Transforming Training to Build the Family Physician Workforce Our Country Needs Go to Transforming Training to Build the Family Physician Workforce Our Country Needs 2022 From ABFM: Breakthroughs: What has the NASEM Report Done for You Lately? Go to From ABFM: Breakthroughs: What has the NASEM Report Done for You Lately?
2019 Report from the FMAHealth Practice Core Team: Achieving the Quadruple Aim through Practice Transformation Go to Report from the FMAHealth Practice Core Team: Achieving the Quadruple Aim through Practice Transformation
2015 Transforming Training to Build the Family Physician Workforce Our Country Needs Go to Transforming Training to Build the Family Physician Workforce Our Country Needs
2022 From ABFM: Breakthroughs: What has the NASEM Report Done for You Lately? Go to From ABFM: Breakthroughs: What has the NASEM Report Done for You Lately?