Family Medicine

What advice would you offer first- and second-year students who are interested in pursuing your specialty?

Make your interest known to our department – clerkship director, residency program director, faculty, and residents you may interact with. Even if you don’t ultimately choose to pursue Family Medicine, we can still offer general advice. You can also spend time with our Procedures Clinic, inpatient service, continuity clinic, academics – it’s as important to learn WHO the specialty is as WHAT the specialty entails.

Specialty Career Advisor:
Jonathon Firnhaber, MD MAEd, MBA
Director, Family Medicine Residency Program
Professor
Department of Family Medicine
firnhaberj@ecu.edu

Does research experience need to be in the specialty itself?

Definitely not. If you have interest in research, pursue what interests you.

What M3/M4 electives would you recommend to a student who is interested in pursuing your specialty?

Family Medicine is an incredibly broad specialty, so choose electives that broadly improve your knowledge of medicine. Medicine subspecialties, such as cardiology, nephrology, GI, rheumatology, neurology can all be helpful in evaluating undifferentiated problems (which is largely what we do in Family Medicine). Most importantly, pick electives that interest you, even if they aren’t a typical part of Family Medicine (e.g., anesthesiology, surgical specialties, pathology). Added bonus: during a residency interview, you may be asked why you chose the electives you did – the reason itself is less important than actually having a reason.

Does your specialty recommend doing away rotations?

Not necessarily. You may consider an “audition rotation” if you’re wanting more exposure to a specific residency program but away rotations are not a must.

If your specialty recommends doing away rotations, how many away rotations do you recommend?

No specific number. If greater than one, you might be asked why, so have an answer for that.

If away rotations are necessary, when should they be completed?

N/A

Which month/s are interviews most concentrated?

In Family Medicine, interviews typically run from October through late December / early January.

Does your specialty recommend that all letters of recommendation be written by members of your specialty?

Absolutely not. As long as a letter of recommendation can describe the qualities that make you a good fit for Family Medicine, it’s perfectly fine to come from another specialty.

If letters can come from other disciplines, do you have a recommendation as to which disciplines are more highly valued?

No specialty is more highly valued than another. A compelling statement from a physician in a different specialty is always “I tried to convince this student to pursue (whatever specialty the letter writer is) but their passion is in Family Medicine.”

Does the academic rank of the letter writer matter?

Not necessarily. It is helpful to have a letter from at least one faculty in an academic program that can provide a credible comparison of the applicant to the typical resident. That’s often difficult for a community physician to do in a convincing manner. Academic rank of the writer is less important than knowledge of the applicant.

How competitive are the residency programs in this specialty?

That’s a difficult question to answer. In many ways, every program in every specialty is competitive. The same applicant may be a strong candidate for one program and entirely noncompetitive for another, depending on the program characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses.

How important are each of the following for admission to a competitive program in your specialty?

	Very Important	Somewhat Important	Not Important	Comments
Shadowing	x			Clerkship / AI performance is important – that absolutely should be hands-on and not(!) shadowing.
Leadership	x			Leadership is a broad category. The WHAT you lead is less important than the fact that you have served as a leader in some capacity.
Community Service		x		IF community service is a passion, by all means pursue that passion. If it is not, then pursue what interests you. Some service activity is important.
Extracurriculuar Activities		x		Same as community service – pursue what interests you.
Research / Publications			x	Same as community service and extracurricular activities – pursue what interests you and be prepared to discuss why you chose to pursue what you did.
AOA Membership			x	I have never been able (in a clinical setting) to reliably distinguish a resident who was an AOA member from one who was not.
Gold Humanism Honor Society			x	I have never been able (in a clinical setting) to reliably distinguish a resident who was an GHHS member from one who was not.
USMLE Step 2 Scores	x			This should be singular (USMLE Step 2 Score), meaning you should only have to sit for the exam once.
Clerkship Grades	x			Caveat: some schools (massively) grade inflate – this is where a histogram of grade distribution is helpful. Your Honors grade is less impactful if 90% of the class also receives Honors in that rotation.
Top Tier Medical School		x		I have always considered BSOM a top tier medical school.
MPSE Letter		x		Caveat: MSPEs all read very similarly, even if a student had significant academic issues. MSPEs are of limited value.
Personal Statement	x			This is your opportunity to tell a program who you are and what makes you a perfect candidate for the specialty you are pursuing.
Letters of Recommendation	x			Importantly, LORs should be from people who know you well and can write more than generic platitudes.