Required procedural training in family medicine residency: a consensus statement.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Specific procedural training standards for US family medicine residencies do not exist. As a result, family physicians graduate with highly variable procedural skills, and the scope of procedural practice for family physicians remains poorly defined. Our objective was to develop a standard list of required procedures for family medicine residencies.

METHODS: The Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Group on Hospital and Procedural Training convened a working group of 17 family physician educators. A multi-voting process was used to define categories and propose a list of required procedures for US family medicine residency programs.

RESULTS: The group defined five categories of procedures within the scope of family medicine. Consensus was reached for a core list of procedures that all family medicine residents should be able to perform by the time of graduation.

CONCLUSIONS: Defining standards for procedural training in family medicine will help clarify family medicine's scope of practice and should benefit both patients and family physicians. We propose that with input from national family medicine organizations, the procedure list presented in this report be used to develop a national standard for required procedural training.