PRACTICING THE BUSINESS SIDE OF MEDICINE: PREPAREDNESS OF OBSTETRICIAN/GYNECOLOGISTS, FROM RESIDENTS TO ATTENDINGS Annette H. Chen MD, Robert E. Berry MD, Bruce A. Meyer MD MBA University of Massachusetts Medical School; UMass Memorial Health Care, Worcester MA ABSTRACT SURVEY RESULTS RESULTS: ATTENDINGS VS RESIDENTS RESULTS: MEAN SUMS OF KNOWLEDGE LEVEL Group (N) Health care sys Business skills Communication Leadership (4) 10.8 33.7 13.3 Staff (21) 8.9 27.0 11.2 P=0.06 P<0.01 P=0.93 Academic (13) 9.2 27.9 12.5 Private (12) 9.3 28.0 10.3 P=0.93 P=0.97 P=0.03 < 5 (8) 8.3 27.0 11.4 5-10 (5) 6.3 26.5 13.1 11-20 (5) 8.4 28.1 12.8 >20 (6) 8.2 29.6 12.7 P=0.22 P=0.61 P=0.68 Yrs in practice (N) SUMMARY RESULTS Compared to attendings, residents report less knowledge of business topics (P<0.01) Attendings report “minimal/fair” or “no knowledge” of over half of basic practice management topics. Business knowledge was equivalent between private and academic staff, and greatest in those in leadership positions. Private practitioners reported less knowledge of communication skills than academicians. Most attendings gained practice and business management skills through self-study or on-the-job-training. Number of years in practice was not predictive of knowledge levels. PURPOSE Business and practice management are not traditionally taught in medical school or residency curricula. We sought to answer the following questions: Do physicians possess basic business and practice management skills? How do they acquire their knowledge base and skill sets? When in their careers do they acquire this knowledge? METHOD RESULTS: ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE Method acquired business/mgt skills Number (%) Never acquired 3 (12) Self-study or on-the job-training 10 (40) Prior experience 9 (36) CME course or certificate program 5 (20) CONCLUSIONS Many physicians remain unfamiliar with business and practice management topics throughout their careers. Most physicians rely on informal learning and trial-and-error to acquire basic practice management skills. This study was limited to the Obstetrics/Gynecology department and relied on self-perceived knowledge. This survey suggests that curriculum policy changes should be made at the medical school and residency training levels to provide formal training in business and practice management.