The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) released the following statement on April 30 regarding residency selection and recruitment in family medicine:
The AAFP has announced the launch of a multi-year initiative to assess whether the processes and systems associated with family medicine residency recruitment is meeting the needs of a growing primary care workforce. The initiative is being launched in response to ongoing challenges with the annual residency application and Match processes.
“In March, over 5,000 medical students matched into a family medicine residency program, marking the 16th consecutive year of growth in the total number of people choosing a career in family medicine,” said R. Shawn Martin, CEO, of the AAFP. “We celebrate those who choose family medicine, but we also know that there are many matching through a supplemental Match process. This extra step is stressful, inefficient, and costly for both the residency programs and the students.”
The number of family medicine residency programs continue to grow year after year, with many small residency programs geographically distributed in communities they serve. These qualities can make it challenging for students looking for the right program to find one that fits their interests within the constraints of the current residency selection and recruitment systems.
“Most estimates predict that we will need somewhere around 40,400 additional primary care physicians by 2040,” said Shawn Martin. “Our goal is to have a system that helps connect the right resident with the right family medicine program in the most effective, efficient, economical way possible.” To that end, the AAFP is launching the new initiative, which will be led by Karen Mitchell, MD, FAAFP.
“Dr. Mitchell is a nationally recognized expert in family medicine education and training,” Shawn Martin said. “She has had a distinguished career as a family physician, a residency program director, and as a member of the AAFP senior leadership team. The ability of the medical education and graduate medical education system to produce family physicians is of national importance, and I cannot think of an individual better prepared or more committed to lead this important work.”
As a key part of the initiative, Dr. Mitchell will convene a stakeholder group of organizations and individuals to evaluate residency recruitment systems, the application, and interview process for medical students and the performance of the National Resident Matching Program (NRMP) for both applicants and programs. Findings from this analysis and information learned during the national convening, slated for early fall 2025, will determine the next steps for the initiative.
“We need a broad, system-focused discussion and analysis of the entire family medicine recruitment process,” Dr. Mitchell said. “I am eager to work with my colleagues across the healthcare community to identify the pain points and the best practices we can leverage to close the workforce gap. We can make a big difference for residency programs, medical students, and the communities who will be served by those future family physicians.”
About the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) Workforce Initiatives
The OAFP and the OAFP Foundation (Foundation) are both strongly invested in continued development and growth of the family physician workforce in Ohio.
As a part of the 2023-26 Strategic Plan, the OAFP is committed to the following goals:
- Support Ohio’s family medicine residency programs in recruiting, training, and retaining family physicians for Ohio’s workforce.
- Support Ohio’s departments of family medicine in their efforts to recruit and retain high potential individuals for the Ohio family medicine workforce.
- Increase the member retention rate of graduating family medicine residents who stay to practice in Ohio by 10% before the end of 2026.
- Support the OAFP Foundation’s efforts to bolster student member engagement.
The Foundation strives to ensure a thriving family physician workforce for Ohio through experience and leadership opportunities for medical students and residents. Foundation programming provides medical students with the opportunity to witness the true effects a family physician has on their community, and re-ignites the passion for family medicine in residents that have already made a commitment to the specialty.
Your contribution, no matter how big or small, is greatly appreciated and will go directly to supporting programs to achieve the Foundation’s mission. Anyone can support the Foundation’s student programming with a donation of any amount, at any time.