Residency Selection Improvement Initiative: Enhancing Family Medicine Recruitment and Applicant Experience
Release Date: 08/10/2026
Residency Selection Improvement Initiative: Enhancing Family Medicine Recruitment and Applicant Experience
Inside Family Medicine
In this episode of the Inside Family Medicine podcast, AAFP Executive Vice President and CEO, Shawn Martin, speaks with a panel of family medicine leaders about the Residency Selection Improvement Initiative, or RSII, and its goal of creating a more effective, efficient and equitable residency selection process. Guests Karen Mitchell, MD, FAAFP, AAFP Vice President of National Residency and Academic Partnerships; Grace Chen Yu, MD, FAAFP; Raj Woolever, MD, FAAFP; Saroj Misra, DO, FACOFP; and Molly Stegman, MD, discuss...
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In this episode of CME On the Go, our hosts discuss how changing climate and weather patterns are already affecting patient health and family medicine practice. They examine the health consequences associated with extreme heat, worsening air quality, wildfire smoke, longer pollen seasons, expanding vector-borne diseases, food and water insecurity and climate-related mental health concerns. They also highlight how these effects can compound existing cardiovascular, respiratory, renal and pregnancy-related risks, particularly among older adults, children,...
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Inside Family Medicine
AAFP Vaccine Science Fellows James Bigham, MD, MPH, FAAFP, and Amra Resic, MD, FAAFP, join host Emily Holwick to discuss practical strategies for improving adult vaccination rates in primary care. Drawing from their clinical experience and fellowship work, they explore how family physicians can build vaccine confidence through strong recommendations, trusted patient relationships, and team-based workflows. The conversation covers presumptive vaccine recommendations, shared clinical decision-making, increasing vaccine confidence with empathy, integrating the...
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In this CME On the Go episode, our hosts discuss evaluating and managing dementia-related concerns in primary care using a common scenario: an older patient brought in by an adult child concerned about Alzheimer’s disease and possible nursing home placement. They emphasize that these visits are time intensive and require history from both the patient and family, distinguishing normal aging from functional cognitive decline across domains such as memory, judgment, language and orientation, while remaining aware of family dynamics. Key exam priorities include...
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In this episode of Inside Family Medicine, we hear from Norman Chenven, MD, founding CEO of Austin Regional Clinic (ARC), and AAFP Director of Career and Practice, Tracey Allen-Ehrhart. They discuss family physician compensation, common income myths, and tools for evaluating job offers. Chenven explains why he chose family medicine and outlines how compensation varies by geography, practice type, work hours, productivity, coding, patient satisfaction, and value-based quality measures. Allen-Ehrhart highlights the AAFP Career Benchmark Dashboard, which offers family...
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In this episode of Fighting for Family Medicine, David Tully, AAFP vice president of government relations, reviews June advocacy efforts, including the Family Medicine Advocacy Summit, where more than 300 physicians advocated for policies to improve access to care. He also highlights AAFP positions on H-1B physician policy, Medicaid work requirements, ACA marketplace changes, rural training and hospital payments, and reducing prior authorization burdens. Tully then discusses student loan changes from the...
info_outlineIn this episode of the Inside Family Medicine podcast, AAFP Executive Vice President and CEO, Shawn Martin, speaks with a panel of family medicine leaders about the Residency Selection Improvement Initiative, or RSII, and its goal of creating a more effective, efficient and equitable residency selection process.
Guests Karen Mitchell, MD, FAAFP, AAFP Vice President of National Residency and Academic Partnerships; Grace Chen Yu, MD, FAAFP; Raj Woolever, MD, FAAFP; Saroj Misra, DO, FACOFP; and Molly Stegman, MD, discuss the challenges applicants and residency programs face as the number of family medicine programs and available positions continue to grow. They explain how inconsistent program information, compressed interview timelines and increasingly complex application strategies can contribute to unnecessary stress, uncertainty and expense.
The conversation explores RSII’s four priority areas: establishing centralized and specialty-specific program information, improving the residency interview process, supporting international medical graduates and multispecialty applicants, and helping programs identify applicants who are committed to family medicine.
Panelists also discuss practical recommendations for making interview offers more transparent and predictable, expanding meaningful application review and creating stronger alignment between an applicant’s values and a program’s mission. The episode concludes with actionable guidance for residency programs, medical schools and applicants preparing for the next Match cycle.
Learn more about the Residency Selection Improvement Initiative and access recommendations and resources for applicants and residency programs at aafp.org/rsii.
Topics by Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:01 Meet the panel
01:42 What is the Residency Selection Improvement Initiative?
02:49 Building RSII through collaboration
03:41 The initiative’s four priority areas
04:43 What applicants want to know about residency programs
05:41 Creating a centralized source for program information
06:37 Improving the residency interview process
08:35 Recommendations for residency interview offers
10:08 The applicant experience during interview season
13:13 Making the process more transparent and equitable
13:32 Supporting international graduates and multispecialty applicants
16:37 Identifying applicants committed to family medicine
17:38 Aligning applicants with program missions and values
19:55 What a better Match could look like
21:08 Practical recommendations for residency programs
21:54 Advice for family medicine applicants
22:29 How medical schools can better support students
23:01 One thing to remember about RSII
23:47 Closing remarks and RSII resources
Resources
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AAFP Medical Student and Resident hubs