According to the Robert Graham Center, Ohio will require an additional 681 primary care physicians (PCPs) by 2030, a 8% increase of the state’s current (as of 2010) 7,783 practicing PCPs, to maintain the status quo. Family physicians are an invaluable resource for patients, their communities, and an evolving health care system. Family medicine offers a medical career of diversity and flexibility. It provides significant opportunities while allowing you to be the kind of physician you want to be.
Your family medicine journey starts as a medical student. The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) and the Ohio Academy of Family Physicians (OAFP) have unique opportunities for students on the national, state, and local levels. AAFP and OAFP student membership free—sign up today!
The OAFP is here to support you during medical school, residency, as a new physician, and throughout your family medicine career.
With seven allopathic medical schools and 35 family medicine residencies in rural, suburban, and urban communities, Ohio offers a wealth of resources for those pursuing a career in medicine. Learn more about Ohio.
As a member of the OAFP, medical students have the opportunity to participate in state and national activities, network with others students and the family physician community, and receive OAFP publications. In addition, leadership opportunities exist to get involved in the OAFP and the AAFP through service on the board of directors, commissions, committees, workgroups, taskforces, and resource teams. By being an Academy leader, you will have a voice and vote on key issues affecting the family medicine specialty.
The OAFP Foundation (Foundation) also has opportunities for medical students including scholarships and resources for your school’s family medicine interest group.
If you have questions or need more information on any of these opportunities or requirements, please contact the OAFP office or call 800.742.7327.
Ready to join? Apply for your FREE membership on the AAFP website today!
Resources for the Match
The Match process is a uniform system by which residency candidates and residency programs simultaneously “match” to fill first-year and second-year post-graduate training positions accredited by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The National Resident Matching Program®(NRMP®) instituted and maintains the Match system.
Unless they have specifically enrolled in the Military Match, which occurs each year in December, all graduating medical students and medical school graduates seeking a residency position should enroll in the Match.
Years of preparation lead a medical student to this pivotal point when the next phase of their medical training will begin. For months leading to the official Match Day, medical students navigate a variety of steps including interviews, site visits, networking events, and more. Each of these steps become critically important to the decision of ranking residency program choices and ultimately setting the path for the next stage of their career.
While these factors all remain the same, the 2020 interview season was anything but typical. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted many layers of healthcare, including residency interviews and the Match. For the first time ever, the 2020-21 application cycle turned virtual.
The OAFP Foundation asked residency program directors, residents, and fourth-year medical students for their insights on the unprecedented, all-virtual Match process dictated by the pandemic. From the nitty gritty lessons learned, challenges overcome, and changes made that will stick around, the group covered it all. Read the full interview, an excerpt of which was published in the Spring 2021 edition of The Ohio Family Physician.