Association between clinical experiences in family practice or in primary care and the percentage of graduates entering family practice residencies.

In 1990 the authors surveyed all U.S. medical schools in order to solicit information about students' clinical experiences in family practice and in primary care. Of 126 schools, 104 (82.5%) responded. Survey data were correlated with each school's quartile ranking based on the average percentage of graduates who entered family practice residencies. A significant association (p = .0013) was found between required family practice clerkships or preceptorships and institutions ranked in the highest quartile (i.e., having more than 17% of their graduates enter family practice). A similarly significant association (p = .0056) was found for those 12 institutions that had more than 30% of their students select family practice options in required primary care clerkships or preceptorships. The authors suggest that active recruiting of students to take such options may increase the number of graduates who enter family practice.

Developing a marketing plan for a residency practice.

Competition for patients is becoming a hallmark of the health care system. Family medicine centers must increasingly think about marketing if they are to attract and retain adequate numbers of patients for resident education. As we have learned from direct experience, marketing is best done in the context of a comprehensive plan. We believe residency faculty can develop and successfully implement marketing plans. Since 1982, we have developed and implemented a marketing plan for the Mercy Family Medicine Center located in Denver, Colorado. We describe the planning process we employed and briefly discuss the successful results due to the plan's implementation.

Male sexual dysfunction.

Impotence and premature ejaculation are common male sexual dysfunctions that are present in most adult primary care populations. New information about the vascular and neurophysiologic mechanisms of impotence have been joined by new technology to advance the medical practices in the diagnosing and treating of the impotent male. While similar advances have not occurred in the understanding of premature ejaculation, behavior therapy techniques are extremely effective with motivated couples. Primary care physicians can aid male patients with sexual dysfunction by attempting to identify them, initiating diagnostic and treatment programs, and referring patients for additional evaluations or specialized procedures when indicated.