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Revitalizing family medicine: How to strengthen the specialty

A new report from a coalition of family physician groups offers a blueprint.

Editorial. May 17, 2004.

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The writing was on the wall and it spelled extinction for the practice of family medicine.

The most striking indicator: U.S. medical school graduates picking family practice residencies had dropped 50% since 1997 as students sought specialties with more pay and fewer hours. Meanwhile, there is no shortage of discontent among practicing family physicians, also largely tied to low pay and long workdays.

So, in 2002, seven national family medicine organizations launched the Future of Family Medicine to examine ways to help the specialty evolve in the 21st century. The FFM report, released in late March, is an ambitious plan that offers recommendations to provide a framework to guide innovation in three key areas -- medical education, clinical practice and the U.S. health care system.

The participating organizations are a veritable who's who of the specialty: the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, the American Board of Family Practice, the Assn. of Depts. of Family Medicine, the Assn. of Family Practice Residency Directors, the North American Primary Care Research Group and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. Each of these organizations has assumed responsibility for enacting the recommendations that fall within its purview.