Entry of US medical school graduates into family medicine residencies: 2012--2013.

BACKGROUND: Analyzing the US medical school origin of family medicine residents highlights schools, states, or regions that have higher entrance rates into family medicine.

METHODS: The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) 2013 Residency Census has a 100% response rate and lists information for family medicine residents who entered training July 2012. MD graduates are verified through medical school registrars or the American Medical Association's Physicians Masterfile data. The American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine provides data on DO graduates. Three-year rolling averages of graduates entering family medicine are calculated for Liaison Committee of Medical Education (LCME)-accredited medical schools.

RESULTS: In July 2012, 3,523 first-year residents entered Accreditation Council for Graduation Medical Education (ACGME)-accredited family medicine residencies. Medical students from LCME-accredited schools account for less than half of the family medicine residents (46%). Public MD-granting medical schools graduate almost threefold more students into family medicine residencies than do private schools (1,101 versus 380). The Mountain, West North Central, and Pacific regions of the United States have the highest percentage of MD graduates (13.5%, 12.3%, and 11.4%, respectively) entering family medicine. Forty-five percent of MD medical students enter a family medicine residency in the state in which they attended medical school.

CONCLUSIONS: LCME-accredited medical schools with lower percentages of graduates entering family medicine should examine the economic, environmental, and academic factors that may be causing low numbers of their students graduating and entering family medicine residencies.