Background and Objectives: The Family Medicine for America’s Health Workforce and Education Team aims to increase the number of medical students choosing family medicine to address the projected primary care physician shortage. This aim can be achieved by developing a well-trained primary care workforce. Our student- and resident-led FMAHealth work group aimed to identify factors that influenced fourth-year medical students’ choice to become family physicians. The secondary objective compared such factors between the 10 medical schools with the highest percentage of students matching into family medicine and non-top 10 medical schools. Methods: Fourth-year medical students nationwide participated in 90-minute virtual focus groups. Reviewers coded deidentified transcriptions and identified key themes and subthemes that were found to influence student choice. Results: Fifty-five medical students participated in focus groups over a 2-year period. Three key themes were found to influence students: perspective, choice, and exposure. Subthemes included: (1) the importance of high-quality preceptors practicing full-scope family medicine, (2) the value of a rural experience, and (3) institutional support to pursue family medicine. Physician compensation and loan repayment concerns were not major factors influencing student choice. Conclusions: Many factors influence student choice of family medicine including preceptors, clinical exposures, and institutional support. These factors varied by institution and many were found to be different between top 10 and non-top 10 schools. Addressing these factors will help increase students’ choice of family medicine and reduce the primary care shortage.

When the Family Medicine for America’s Health (FMAHealth) Workforce Education and Development Tactic Team (WEDTT) began its work in December 2014, one of its charges from the FMAHealth Board was to increase family physician production to achieve the diverse primary care workforce the United States needs. The WEDTT created a multilevel interfunctional team to work on this priority initiative that included a focus on student, resident, and early-career physician involvement and leadership development. One major outcome was the adoption of a shared aim, known as 25 x 2030. Through a collaboration of the WEDTT and the eight leading family medicine sponsoring organizations, the 25 x 2030 aim is to increase the percentage of US allopathic and osteopathic medical students choosing family medicine from 12% to 25% by the year 2030. The WEDTT developed a package of change ideas based on its theory of what will drive the achievement of 25 x 2030, which led to specific projects completed by the WEDTT and key collaborators. The WEDTT offered recommendations for the future based on its 3-year effort, including policy efforts to improve the social accountability of US medical schools, strategy centered around younger generations’ desires rather than past experiences, active involvement by students and residents, engagement of early-career physicians as role models, focus on simultaneously building and diversifying the family medicine workforce, and security of the scope future family physicians want to practice. The 25 x 2030 initiative, carried forward by the family medicine organizations, will use collective impact to adopt a truly collaborative approach toward achieving this much needed goal for family medicine.

90provide foundational training for residency faculty. Courses cover the structure and requirements of residency education; how to be an effective and efficient faculty member; the nuts and bolts of curriculum development and teaching; and strategies for assessment, feedback, and remediation of residents.Conducted the first meeting of the Precepting Expansion Oversight Committee. This multidisciplinary, interprofessional committee is overseeing the implementation of an action plan to decrease the percentage of primary care clerkship directors who report difficulty finding clinical preceptor sites and increase the percentage of students completing clerkships at high-functioning sites. Five tactic teams began meeting in 2017 and are now implementing strategies to ensure medical, nurse practitioner, and physician assistant students receive hands-on opportunities with patients in real-world settings.Updated the Leading Change online course. The content is now delivered in shorter segments and the course includes interactivity, learning activities, and quizzes to promote understanding and retention.Implemented new submission systems for the Family Medicine Residency Curriculum Resource and the STFM National Clerkship Curriculum. Submissions are now made through the same system STFM uses for its journals, which allows for better tracking of submissions and communication with authors.Implemented digital badging on member profiles in STFM CONNECT. A digital badge is an online recognition of accomplishments, mastery of a skill, or completion of a learning experience. The goal of the badging is to recognize members, showcase their accomplishments and STFM involvement, and encourage participation in STFM programs and leadership activities.The celebration and innovation of 2017 built momentum for the many products and activities planned for 2018: a Medical School Faculty Fundamentals Certificate Program, an enhanced online presence for Family Medicine, a revamped, mobile-friendly website, a new conference submission and review system, and ongoing work to address the shortage of community preceptors.