Family Medicine Department Chairs' Opinions Regarding Scope of Practice. 2015

Lars E Peterson, and Brenna Blackburn, and Robert L Phillips, and Arch G Mainous
L.E. Peterson is research director, American Board of Family Medicine, and assistant professor, Department of Family and Community Medicine, University of Kentucky College of Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky. B. Blackburn was a research assistant, American Board of Family Medicine, Lexington, Kentucky, at the time this study was done. R.L. Phillips Jr. is vice president for research and policy, American Board of Family Medicine, Washington, DC. A.G. Mainous III is chair of health services research, management, and policy, University of Florida College of Medicine, Gainesville, Florida.

OBJECTIVE Family physicians are trained broadly to provide the majority of health care across multiple settings; however, their scope of practice has narrowed. Department chairs' role modeling of a broad scope of practice may set the tone for faculty and trainees. METHODS In 2013, the authors surveyed family medicine department chairs about their scope of practice, personal and department characteristics, and attitudes and beliefs about scope of practice and role modeling. They used descriptive statistics and bivariate analyses to test for associations between scope of practice, personal and department characteristics, and attitudes and beliefs. They created a Scope of Practice Index by summing the number of services each respondent provided to compare scope of practice across chairs. RESULTS Of 146 chairs, 88 responded (60.3% response rate); 85 were included in the final analysis. Sixty-five (77.4%) respondents were male; 73 (86.9%) were 51 years or older. Respondents spent a mean of 19.7% of their time in direct patient care and had a mean Scope of Practice Index of 11.9. Fifty-three (62.4%) disagreed that the scope of practice of family medicine was too broad for practicing physicians to keep up in all areas, and 56 (65.9%) believed that faculty should role model the full scope of practice to learners. Responses generally did not vary by respondents' personal scope of practice. CONCLUSIONS Family medicine department chairs believe that role modeling a broad scope of practice increases students' interest in family medicine and encourages residency graduates to provide a wide range of services.

UI MeSH Term Description Entries
D007396 Internship and Residency Programs of EDUCATION, MEDICAL, GRADUATE training to meet the requirements established by accrediting authorities. House Staff,Internship, Dental,Residency, Dental,Residency, Medical,Dental Internship,Dental Internships,Dental Residencies,Dental Residency,Internship,Internship, Medical,Internships, Dental,Medical Residencies,Medical Residency,Residencies, Dental,Residencies, Medical,Residency,Residency and Internship,Internships, Medical,Medical Internship,Medical Internships,Residencies,Staff, House
D008297 Male Males
D008486 Physician Executives Physicians who serve in a medical and administrative capacity as head of an organized medical staff and who also may serve as liaison for the medical staff with the administration and governing board. Medical Directors,Director, Medical,Directors, Medical,Medical Director,Executive, Physician,Executives, Physician,Physician Executive
D008875 Middle Aged An adult aged 45 - 64 years. Middle Age
D010818 Practice Patterns, Physicians' Patterns of practice related to diagnosis and treatment as especially influenced by cost of the service requested and provided. Clinical Practice Patterns,Physician's Practice Patterns,Clinical Practice Pattern,Pattern, Clinical Practice,Patterns, Clinical Practice,Practice Pattern, Clinical,Practice Patterns, Clinical,Practice Patterns, Physician's,Prescribing Patterns, Physician,Physician Practice Patterns,Physician Prescribing Pattern,Physician Prescribing Patterns,Physician's Practice Pattern,Physicians' Practice Pattern,Physicians' Practice Patterns,Practice Pattern, Physician's,Practice Pattern, Physicians',Practice Patterns, Physician,Prescribing Pattern, Physician
D011795 Surveys and Questionnaires Collections of data obtained from voluntary subjects. The information usually takes the form of answers to questions, or suggestions. Community Survey,Nonrespondent,Questionnaire,Questionnaires,Respondent,Survey,Survey Method,Survey Methods,Surveys,Baseline Survey,Community Surveys,Methodology, Survey,Nonrespondents,Questionnaire Design,Randomized Response Technique,Repeated Rounds of Survey,Respondents,Survey Methodology,Baseline Surveys,Design, Questionnaire,Designs, Questionnaire,Methods, Survey,Questionnaire Designs,Questionnaires and Surveys,Randomized Response Techniques,Response Technique, Randomized,Response Techniques, Randomized,Survey, Baseline,Survey, Community,Surveys, Baseline,Surveys, Community,Techniques, Randomized Response
D003430 Cross-Sectional Studies Studies in which the presence or absence of disease or other health-related variables are determined in each member of the study population or in a representative sample at one particular time. This contrasts with LONGITUDINAL STUDIES which are followed over a period of time. Disease Frequency Surveys,Prevalence Studies,Analysis, Cross-Sectional,Cross Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Survey,Surveys, Disease Frequency,Analyses, Cross Sectional,Analyses, Cross-Sectional,Analysis, Cross Sectional,Cross Sectional Analyses,Cross Sectional Studies,Cross Sectional Survey,Cross-Sectional Analyses,Cross-Sectional Analysis,Cross-Sectional Study,Cross-Sectional Surveys,Disease Frequency Survey,Prevalence Study,Studies, Cross-Sectional,Studies, Prevalence,Study, Cross-Sectional,Study, Prevalence,Survey, Cross-Sectional,Survey, Disease Frequency,Surveys, Cross-Sectional
D004503 Education, Medical, Graduate Educational programs for medical graduates entering a specialty. They include formal specialty training as well as academic work in the clinical and basic medical sciences, and may lead to board certification or an advanced medical degree. Medical Education, Graduate,Education, Graduate Medical,Graduate Medical Education
D005180 Faculty, Medical Teaching and administrative staff having academic rank in a medical school. Faculties, Medical,Medical Faculties,Medical Faculty
D005194 Family Practice A medical specialty concerned with the provision of continuing, comprehensive primary health care for the entire family. Family Practices,Practice, Family,Practices, Family

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