The Family Medicine Interest & Scholars Program

This innovative program, first implemented in 2010, implements a two-tiered effort to increase interest in family medicine among North Carolina medical students. The first approach involves targeted efforts to increase interest in family medicine by improving interaction between practicing family physicians and the Family Medicine Interest Groups at each of North Carolina’s four medical schools. The second involves the annual selection of up to 12 Family Medicine Scholars from among the state’s four medical schools for an intensive, three-year immersion experience into the specialty. The ultimate goal is to increase the number of North Carolina’s medical students who enter family medicine as a career and who choose to practice in our state.

-- Application deadline for graduating class of 2015 has passed - selected participants will be announced in March 2012 --

The Family Medicine Interest Program

The Family Medicine Interest Program will seek to increase the effectiveness of relationships between the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians (NCAFP), practicing family physicians, medical school departments and the Family Medicine Interest Group at each North Carolina medical school. The concept is to expand the knowledge base and interest level of a broader group of medical students who may be interested in the specialty by increasing on-campus contact with practicing physicians and other primary care thought-leaders. This effort includes exposing a larger group of students to the NCAFP Annual Meeting each year, having practicing family physicians speak to medical students at each school on an ongoing basis, and making possible a national-level speaker at a key Family Medicine Interest Group event at each medical school.

The Family Medicine Scholars Program

To introduce North Carolina’s most promising future physicians to family medicine and primary care, the NCAFP has designed a unique multi-year immersion experience for medical students. Up to 12 students are selected to participate each year who will be enrolled in a dynamic three-year curriculum designed to enhance their individual clinical skills, develop their health care leadership ability, and offer the option of accessing a scholarship should they enter a family medicine residency program. Each scholar will be paired with physician who is in a community-based practice. This physician, a Master Preceptor, will serve as a mentor during the course of this program. The relationship with these specially selected preceptors begins during a four-week externship between the students’ first and second year of medical school and will continue with ongoing interaction at the NCAFP Annual Meeting and during an additional clinical rotation. Furthermore, these students will be funded to attend the American Academy of Family Physician’s National Conference of Family Medicine Residents and Medical Students, as well as one other related conference at no charge. Each scholar will also participate in a leadership rotation with the NCAFP and collaborating partners during their fourth year of medical school.

For questions regarding the Family Medicine Scholars Program, please contact Tracie Hazelett at the NCAFP at thazelett@ncafp.com or via telephone at (919) 833-2110