Although there is substantial evidence that longitudinal primary care is associated with improved health outcomes and lower health costs for patients, the United States is suffering from a growing shortage of primary care physicians. Residency programs' outpatient learning environments are often undervalued and under-resourced. To address the increasing need for primary care physicians, residencies must find ways to foster awareness and enthusiasm about opportunities in primary care. Within our internal medicine residency program, we developed a monthly primary care community night for residents and faculty called “GIMboree.” Our main objectives for these evenings are to increase residents' sense of interest in primary care careers through exposure to general internal medicine (GIM) and geriatrics role models, strengthen medical knowledge related to outpatient medicine through a journal club, and foster a community in which residents feel supported in their outpatient interests.GIMboree meetings are monthly voluntary events that are held off-campus and last 2 hours. They include dinner, primary literature journal article discussion, a faculty member's career story, and time for reflection about GIM clinic. Articles focus on outpatient medicine and are published within the last year. A resident volunteer leads the group through analysis of the evidence and helps lead the discussion. Faculty members host the events at their houses and share their career stories with prompting questions. Clinic reflection allows residents to obtain feedback about a clinic encounter or to discuss joys and challenges specific to outpatient medicine.
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