Schools committed to creating primary care doctors.

[same21]

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Some schools that I am applying to state that they are committed to making primary care doctors. I like primary care but I also like a lot of specialties and I dont want to limit myself before I even begin my education. If I attend one of those schools, is it that they encourage us to pursue primary care, or is it that they make it more difficult for someone to get a non primary care residency. Would I have less of a chance of obtaining a non primary care residency coming from one of those schools?

 

[VeeTeeHokies]

Some schools that I am applying to state that they are committed to making primary care doctors. I like primary care but I also like a lot of specialties and I dont want to limit myself before I even begin my education. If I attend one of those schools, is it that they encourage us to pursue primary care, or is it that they make it more difficult for someone to get a non primary care residency. Would I have less of a chance of obtaining a non primary care residency coming from one of those schools?

I would say 75/25 for encouragement / making it more difficult. Ultimately specialization is up to you to make the grades and board scores, as well as the necessary LORs and time spent in the specialty you want. The newer schools that aren't as established will make it a bit more difficult to obtain a residency, and from my experience it is the newer schools that seem to be a bit more interested in creating primary care physicians. That is not to say that all schools don't encourage it, but if it's their focus it is likely that your rotations will be more heavily focused on primary care thus making it a bit more difficult to specialize.

Example: VCOM requires you to do 2 family practice rotations, one normal and one in underserved appalachian communities. This effectively eliminates one of your elective rotations that you could use to further explore the specialty of interest and gain additional experience within it before applying to residencies.

 

[jm192]

Alot of these places don't require you to go into primary care so much as push for it.

As said above, you'll have more rotations designed to encourage primary care. Additionally, I think a large part of the reason is that they look for persons interested in primary care during the interview season.

 

[tndoc12]

I think it is ultimately up to the student and his scores/recommendations.

 

[DOwnage]

This thread makes me think of AT Still in Arizona who has a different style of teaching that is more geared for primary care...what if a person was to matriculate there and wanted to specialize in something other than FP?

 

[brookliner7]

This thread makes me think of AT Still in Arizona who has a different style of teaching that is more geared for primary care...what if a person was to matriculate there and wanted to specialize in something other than FP?

Simple.
You do well in your didactic training and have a decent class ranking, do well on your step 1 and step 2 board exams, do great on your sub-i rotations for the specialty you are interested in, and be likeable on your interviews.
😀

 

[tndoc12]

Simple.
You do well in your didactic training and have a decent class ranking, do well on your step 1 and step 2 board exams, do great on your sub-i rotations for the specialty you are interested in, and be likeable on your interviews.
😀

Well said! 🙂