Frederick Chen, MD, MPH

WWAMI Rural Health Research Center

Phone: 206.685.0402
E-mail: fchen@u.washington.edu

University of Washington

Current Projects

Future of Family Medicine and Implications for Primary Care Physician Supply
Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Physicians, Workforce
This project describes recent trends in medical student interest and national match rates in primary care and family medicine, the effect of increasing proportions of female physicians on rural practice patterns, and implications of declining interest in primary care on health and the health workforce.

Rural Family Medicine Residency Training Survey: Follow-up to 2000 Survey
Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Physicians, Workforce
National survey of family medicine residency training programs to quantify the amount and location of rural training. The survey will also identify training that occurs in federally-qualified health centers.

Completed Projects

Which Training Programs Produce Rural Physicians? A National Health Workforce Study, Lead researcher
Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
Funder: Office of Rural Health Policy (ORHP)
Topics: Physicians, Workforce
This national study is using comprehensive, longitudinal data on medical schools and residency location to determine the extent to which the nation's medical schools and residency programs vary in their production of rural physicians by specialty.

Publications

• 2005 Physician Supply and Distribution in Rural Areas of the United States (Full Report)
  Author(s): Meredith A. Fordyce, Frederick M. Chen, Mark P. Doescher, L. Gary Hart
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: International Medical Graduates (IMGs), Physicians, Workforce
  Date: 11 / 2007
  This study describes the 2005 supply and distribution of physicians (including osteopathic physicians and international medical graduates) with particular emphasis on generalists in rural areas. Results indicate variability in the rural-urban distribution of physicians, with generalist physicians playing prominent roles in rural areas.
• 2005 Physician Supply and Distribution in Rural Areas of the United States (Project Summary)
  Author(s): Meredith A. Fordyce, Frederick M. Chen, Mark P. Doescher, L. Gary Hart
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: International Medical Graduates (IMGs), Physicians, Workforce
  Date: 11 / 2007
  This study describes the 2005 supply and distribution of physicians (including osteopathic physicians and international medical graduates) with particular emphasis on generalists in rural areas. Results indicate variability in the rural-urban distribution of physicians, with generalist physicians playing prominent roles in rural areas.
• Family Medicine Residency Training in Rural Areas: How Much is Taking Place, and Is It Enough to Prepare a Future Generation of Rural Family Physicians?
  Author(s): Roger A Rosenblatt, R Schneeweiss, L Gary Hart, S Casey, C Holly Andrilla, Fredercik M Chen
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Physicians, Workforce
  Report Number: No. 69
  Date: 03 / 2002
  Determines how much rural family practice training is taking place in the United States. Among the results are that only 33 family medicine residency programs (7.4 percent) are located in rural areas and most of the training sponsored by these programs occurs in rural areas. On the other hand, while more than one-third of the urban programs listed rural training as an important part of their mission, only 2.3 percent of the training they supported took place in rural areas. For the nation as a whole, only 7.5 percent of family medicine residency training occurred in rural areas despite the fact that 22.3 percent of the U.S. population lives in rural places. The report concludes that to the extent that there is a link between the place of training and future practice, the lack of rural training contributes to the shortage of rural physicians. Furthermore, unless significant efforts are made to increase rural residency training, rural physician shortages are likely to persist.
• Pathways to Rural Practice: A Chartbook of Family Medicine Residency Training Locations and Characteristics
  Author(s): L. Gary Hart, Denise M. Lishner, Eric H. Larson, Frederick M. Chen, C. Holly A. Andrilla, Thomas E. Norris, Ronald Schneeweiss, Tim M. Henderson, Roger A. Rosenblatt
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Physicians, Workforce
  Citation: Seattle, WA: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center, University of Washington.
  Date: 08 / 2005
  Discusses characteristics and geographic locations of family medicine residency programs' rural locations, types of rural family medicine training by location, and rural mission of family medicine residencies.
• WWAMI Physician Workforce 2005
  Author(s): Frederick M. Chen, Meredith A. Fordyce, L. Gary Hart
  Research center: WWAMI Rural Health Research Center
  Topics: Physicians, Workforce
  Report Number: Working Paper No. 98
  Date: 05 / 2005
  Data on physician supply, demand, and need in the WWAMI region have not been routinely collected or reported. This report responds to a request by the University of Washington School of Medicine (UWSOM) Primary Care Steering Committee to examine the current supply and distribution of physicians in the WWAMI region. These data can help inform and guide the UWSOM in the production of physicians for the WWAMI region. The analysis utilizes the 2005 AMA Masterfile to determine the population-based supply of physicians at the state and county level, analyzed by the discipline of physician, and whether they had graduated from, or trained at the University of Washington, which is the only medical school for the five-state WWAMI region. The emphasis on primary care is important as over one-third of the WWAMI population lives in rural areas and tends to be medically underserved, relying on primary care physicians for the majority of their medical needs.