Incongruence of existing practice management curricula content and actual medical practice need.

Abstract

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Practice management is an important, but often overlooked, element of medical training, especially for physicians in primary care. The objective of this study was to evaluate our program's practice management curriculum to determine if it meets the needs of its graduates. METHODS: A questionnaire, developed and sent to 1986-1991 graduates of the residency program (n = 76), determined their perceptions of how well the practice management curriculum prepared them to operate a practice. Fifty (65.8%) usable surveys were returned. RESULTS: The respondents perceived deficits in areas of preparing for office management, starting and building a practice, using professional services (especially in the areas of financial decisions and use of professionals), and reimbursement procedures. CONCLUSIONS: Physicians need an understanding of business fundamentals such as economics, organization management, contract evaluation, negotiation and mediation skills, methods of allocation of limited resources, information science, and consumerism. This article offers a process through which other family practice residency programs can begin evaluating and restructuring their practice management curricula to meet these needs.