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 The redistribution of graduate medical education positions in 2005 failed to boost primary care or rural training The redistribution of graduate medical education positions in 2005 failed to boost primary care or rural training 2013 Author(s) Chen, Candice, Xierali, Imam M, Piwnica-Worms, K, and Phillips, Robert L Topic(s) Education & Training, and Role of Primary Care Keyword(s) Graduate Medical Education, Rural, and Shortage Areas Volume Health Affairs Source Health Affairs Graduate medical education (GME), the system to train graduates of medical schools in their chosen specialties, costs the government nearly $13 billion annually, yet there is little accountability in the system for addressing critical physician shortages in specific specialties and geographic areas. Medicare provides the bulk of GME funds, and the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003 redistributed nearly 3,000 residency positions among the nation’s hospitals, largely in an effort to train more residents in primary care and in rural areas. However, when we analyzed the outcomes of this recent effort, we found that out of 304 hospitals receiving additional positions, only 12 were rural, and they received fewer than 3 percent of all positions redistributed. Although primary care training had net positive growth after redistribution, the relative growth of nonprimary care training was twice as large and diverted would-be primary care physicians to subspecialty training. Thus, the two legislative and regulatory priorities for the redistribution were not met. Future legislation should reevaluate the formulas that determine GME payments and potentially delink them from the hospital prospective payment system. Furthermore, better health care workforce data and analysis are needed to link GME payments to health care workforce needs. ABFM Research Read all 2020 Characteristics of Office-Based Buprenorphine Prescribers for Medicare Patients Go to Characteristics of Office-Based Buprenorphine Prescribers for Medicare Patients 1987 Pilot study using ‘dangerous answers’ as scoring technique on certifying examinations Go to Pilot study using ‘dangerous answers’ as scoring technique on certifying examinations 2025 Developing Content Domain Weights for the 2025 Family Medicine Certification Scale Go to Developing Content Domain Weights for the 2025 Family Medicine Certification Scale 2019 Response to” The Importance of Support Staff to Research Capacity” Go to Response to” The Importance of Support Staff to Research Capacity”
Author(s) Chen, Candice, Xierali, Imam M, Piwnica-Worms, K, and Phillips, Robert L Topic(s) Education & Training, and Role of Primary Care Keyword(s) Graduate Medical Education, Rural, and Shortage Areas Volume Health Affairs Source Health Affairs
ABFM Research Read all 2020 Characteristics of Office-Based Buprenorphine Prescribers for Medicare Patients Go to Characteristics of Office-Based Buprenorphine Prescribers for Medicare Patients 1987 Pilot study using ‘dangerous answers’ as scoring technique on certifying examinations Go to Pilot study using ‘dangerous answers’ as scoring technique on certifying examinations 2025 Developing Content Domain Weights for the 2025 Family Medicine Certification Scale Go to Developing Content Domain Weights for the 2025 Family Medicine Certification Scale 2019 Response to” The Importance of Support Staff to Research Capacity” Go to Response to” The Importance of Support Staff to Research Capacity”
2020 Characteristics of Office-Based Buprenorphine Prescribers for Medicare Patients Go to Characteristics of Office-Based Buprenorphine Prescribers for Medicare Patients
1987 Pilot study using ‘dangerous answers’ as scoring technique on certifying examinations Go to Pilot study using ‘dangerous answers’ as scoring technique on certifying examinations
2025 Developing Content Domain Weights for the 2025 Family Medicine Certification Scale Go to Developing Content Domain Weights for the 2025 Family Medicine Certification Scale
2019 Response to” The Importance of Support Staff to Research Capacity” Go to Response to” The Importance of Support Staff to Research Capacity”