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What is Family Medicine?
Family medicine(FM)
is a medical specialty devoted to comprehensive health care for
people of all ages. It is a division of primary care that
provides continuing and comprehensive health care for the
individual and family across all ages, sexes, diseases,
and parts of the body.
It is based on
knowledge of the patient in the context of the family and the
community, emphasizing disease prevention and health promotion.
Family physicians in the United States may hold either an M.D.
or D.O. degree.
Physicians who specialize in family medicine must successfully
complete an accredited three-year family medicine residency in
the United States in addition to their medical degree. They are
then eligible to sit for a board certification examination now
required by most hospitals and health plans.The American Board of Family Medicine requires
its Diplomates to maintain certification through an ongoing
process of continuing medical education, medical knowledge
review, patient care oversight through chart audits,
practice-based learning through quality improvement projects and
retaking the board certification examination every 7 to 10
years.
Family physicians deliver a range of acute, chronic and
preventive medical care services. In addition to diagnosing and
treating illness, they also provide preventive care, including
routine checkups, health-risk assessments, immunization and
screening tests, and personalized counseling on maintaining a
healthy lifestyle. Family physicians also manage chronic
illness, often coordinating care provided by other
subspecialists.
Family medicine and family physicians play a very important role
in the healthcare system of a country. In U.S., for example,
nearly one in four of all office visits are made to family
physicians. That is 208 million office visits each year — nearly
83 million more than the next largest medical specialty. Today,
family physicians provide more care for America’s underserved
and rural populations than any other medical specialty.
Wikipedia.org
Family physicians complete undergraduate school and three more years of specialized medical
residencytraining in
family medicine.Their
residency training includes rotations in internal medicine,
pediatrics, obstetrics-gynecology, psychiatry, and geriatrics.The
specialty focuses on treating the whole person—acknowledging the
effects of all outside influences—through all life stages.Family physicians will see anyone with any
problem, but are experts in common problems. Many family
physicians deliver babies in addition to taking care of patients
of all ages.
In order to become board certified, family physicians must
complete a residency in family medicine, possess a full and
unrestricted medical license, and take a written cognitive
examination.The
American Board of Family Medicine, as well as other specialty
boards, are requiring additional participation in continuous
learning and self-assessment to enhance clinical knowledge,
expertise and skills. The Board has created a program called the
"Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians"
(MC-FP) which will require family physicians to continuously
demonstrate proficiency in four areas of clinical practice:
professionalism, self assessment/lifelong learning, cognitive
expertise, and performance in practice. Three hundred hours of
continuing medical education within the prior six years is also
required to be eligible to sit for the exam.
Family physicians may pursue fellowships in diverse topics
including adolescent medicine, geriatric medicine, sports
medicine, sleep medicine, and hospice and palliative medicine.
While many sources cite a shortage of family physicians (and
also other primary care providers, i.e. internists,
pediatricians, and general practitioners)the
per capita supply of primary care physicians has actually
increased about 1 percent per year since 1998.Additionally,
a recent decrease in the number of M.D. graduates pursuing a
residency in primary care, has been offset by the number of D.O
graduates and graduates of international medical schools (IMGs)
who enter primary care residencies.Still,
projections indicate that by 2020 the demand for family
physicians will exceed their supply.
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