WOW! 1,146 US medical school graduates chose family medicine in the 2014 residency match!
A total of 3,000 family medicine residency positions were filled. This represents a continuing upward trend in the past five years regarding medical student interest in family medicine. The data are encouraging, but what inspired me was the number of future colleagues who posted pictures of their match notification letter in one hand and their 2014 Year of the Family Physician signboard in the other. A picture was worth a thousand dreams fulfilled. These individuals stood tall and proudly proclaimed their identity as global healers to the world via Facebook and Twitter. Furthermore, they had the presence of mind on a day of personal celebration to acknowledge they became part of a bigger family; it was about them, but not only them. They realized that their decision to be a family physician was about the people who supported them and the people they, in turn, would support.
The medical school class of 2014 represents a vital link to #2014YearFP. There are the guardians of an idea and a movement. This is the group who embraced family medicine not only as a professional choice, but also as a personal statement. As they prepare for good-byes and moves, they will enter their residency training as ambassadors, leaders, and embodiments of community. I congratulate this class on their journey and invite them to extend the #2014YearFP spirit throughout their training. I challenge them to assume their rightful ownership of #2014YearFP and sustain it for their future colleagues. GeNext, when you cross the stage to receive your diploma, your world changes. As you remove your cap and gown, you have graduated to GeNow and the world stands ready for how you will change it. I am confident #2014YearFP is in caring and capable hands.
