title: Family Medicine Clerkship Directors' Influence on the Residency Program Selection Process: A CERA Study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Residency directors and their associated programs devote a considerable amount of time and effort recruiting medical students. Family medicine clerkship directors may be in a position to influence a student's decision regarding specific residency programs. In this study we examined the frequency and content of discussions between family medicine clerkship directors and medical students regarding residency programs.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected as part of the 2014 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) Family Medicine Clerkship Director Survey. A list of 13 residency program features was provided, and clerkship directors were asked to categorize each item on a 5-point Likert scale assessing their importance with regards to recommendation or quality.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The response rate was 91%. Nearly all clerkship directors (99.2%) reported that medical students often or occasionally ask their opinion regarding specific residency programs. The three most common factors considered by clerkship directors to be very or extremely influential when recommending a program are accreditation status (73.1%), location (70.3%), and curriculum (68.3%). To determine quality of a program, accreditation status (80.7%), curriculum (80.0%), and faculty reputation for teaching (78.3%) were most often cited. Marginal agreement was noted for location, board pass rate, attrition rate, and curriculum.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since nearly all clerkship directors report that medical students ask their opinion regarding specific residency programs, program directors and faculty may wish to enhance their communication with these individuals in regards to specific attributes of their residency program.
authors.affiliation: Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina.
authors.forename: Lisa D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Mims
authors.forename: Kelly
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Everard
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hall
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hatch
authors.forename: John
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Malaty
authors.forename: Daniel
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Rubin
authors.forename: Denny
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Fe Agana
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Carek
mesh_terms: D000068:Accreditation / Q000592:standards; D003142:Communication; D003479:Curriculum / Q000592:standards; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005180:Faculty, Medical / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005194:Family Practice / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D008297:Male; D010560:Personnel Selection; D008486:Physician Executives; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States