A pilot study of training family medicine residents in procedural skills at a community health center.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES There are many challenges to providing procedural skills training as well as exposure to rural practice for family medicine residents, especially within the allowed hours of training. METHODS A curriculum for self study was developed based on a Society of Teachers of Family Medicine consensus statement on procedural skills, resident interest and faculty experience. An agreement to offer a pilot procedural clinic at a community health center staffed by a family medicine faculty and resident was negotiated and delivered. Residents completed an evaluation of the experience. RESULTS One faculty and 13 residents delivered 19 different procedures, with a total of 65 procedures, over an 11-month period at a community health center. Minor barriers to providing services such as initially low referral rates and lack of instruments were overcome. CONCLUSIONS Residents agreed that participating in this clinic increased the likelihood of adding procedures to their clinical practice and enhanced their appreciation for practice in a rural setting but may not have impacted their likelihood of practicing in a rural area.