Diplomate Spotlight Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook Read Opening Doors with Board Certification: A Conversation with Long Standing Diplomate Joseph Cook
Phoenix Newsletter - July 2025 Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration Read Available Now: 2026 5-Year Cycle Registration
Home Research Research Library How Many Graduating Family Medicine Residents Have Chosen Financial Support for Service Commitments? How Many Graduating Family Medicine Residents Have Chosen Financial Support for Service Commitments? 2017 Author(s) Phillips, Julie P, Peterson, Lars E, Fang, Bo, Kovar-Gough, Iris, and Phillips, Robert L Topic(s) Education & Training Keyword(s) Graduate Medical Education, Initial Certification Questionnaire, and Visiting Scholar/Fellow Volume Family Medicine Source Family Medicine BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: New family physicians have opportunities to avoid accruing educational debt or have loans repaid by making a commitment to public service. Little information is available about the numbers of early career family physicians who have made service commitments to fund their education. The purpose of this study is to describe the proportion of graduating family medicine residents who have enrolled in US military and National Health Service Corps (NHSC) scholarship and loan repayment programs, thus obligating them to future public service. METHODS: The study was a secondary analysis of de-identified data from the 2014 and 2015 American Board of Family Medicine examination registration questionnaire, which is required of all residents applying for board certification. Descriptive statistics were used to indicate the numbers and proportions of respondents who indicated military or NHSC financial support. Chi square analyses were used to analyze differences between groups. RESULTS: Of the 6,231 residents studied, 271 (4.4%) had either obtained military support (n=191, 3.1%) or enrolled in the NHSC (n=80, 1.3%). More men had enrolled in the military than women (4.2% vs 2.2%, P<0.01), but there was no significant NHSC gender difference. Underrepresented minorities (URM) were twice as likely to have enrolled in NHSC as non-URM residents (2.5% vs 1.0%, P<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Only a small fraction of graduating family medicine residents have used either military enrollment or NHSC scholarships to fund their education. Family medicine should advocate strongly for expansion of the NHSC scholarship program, which receives many more applications than it can support. ABFM Research Read all 2017 The Single Graduate Medical Education (GME) Accreditation System Will Change the Future of the Family Medicine Workforce Go to The Single Graduate Medical Education (GME) Accreditation System Will Change the Future of the Family Medicine Workforce 2017 Fellowship or Further Training for Family Medicine Residents? Go to Fellowship or Further Training for Family Medicine Residents? 2021 Purposeful Imprinting in Graduate Medical Education: Opportunities for Partnership Go to Purposeful Imprinting in Graduate Medical Education: Opportunities for Partnership 2020 The Dilution of Family Medicine: Waning Numbers of Family Physicians Providing Pediatric Care Go to The Dilution of Family Medicine: Waning Numbers of Family Physicians Providing Pediatric Care
Author(s) Phillips, Julie P, Peterson, Lars E, Fang, Bo, Kovar-Gough, Iris, and Phillips, Robert L Topic(s) Education & Training Keyword(s) Graduate Medical Education, Initial Certification Questionnaire, and Visiting Scholar/Fellow Volume Family Medicine Source Family Medicine
ABFM Research Read all 2017 The Single Graduate Medical Education (GME) Accreditation System Will Change the Future of the Family Medicine Workforce Go to The Single Graduate Medical Education (GME) Accreditation System Will Change the Future of the Family Medicine Workforce 2017 Fellowship or Further Training for Family Medicine Residents? Go to Fellowship or Further Training for Family Medicine Residents? 2021 Purposeful Imprinting in Graduate Medical Education: Opportunities for Partnership Go to Purposeful Imprinting in Graduate Medical Education: Opportunities for Partnership 2020 The Dilution of Family Medicine: Waning Numbers of Family Physicians Providing Pediatric Care Go to The Dilution of Family Medicine: Waning Numbers of Family Physicians Providing Pediatric Care
2017 The Single Graduate Medical Education (GME) Accreditation System Will Change the Future of the Family Medicine Workforce Go to The Single Graduate Medical Education (GME) Accreditation System Will Change the Future of the Family Medicine Workforce
2017 Fellowship or Further Training for Family Medicine Residents? Go to Fellowship or Further Training for Family Medicine Residents?
2021 Purposeful Imprinting in Graduate Medical Education: Opportunities for Partnership Go to Purposeful Imprinting in Graduate Medical Education: Opportunities for Partnership
2020 The Dilution of Family Medicine: Waning Numbers of Family Physicians Providing Pediatric Care Go to The Dilution of Family Medicine: Waning Numbers of Family Physicians Providing Pediatric Care