Family Medicine is an exciting place to be at this point looking into the future, and our growing importance to the healthcare system of the future is already evident in dramatic rises in opportunity for Family Physicians.
This is a function of both increasing demand and a flat supply of graduating medical students choosing a career in primary care. Even as supply increases, we anticipate that long-term demand pressures driven by healthcare system changes will continue to make primary care a valued and sought after specialty in the market place. Market place value translates into career flexibility both terms of the type of work arrangements and locality. Family physicians are fully prepared to serve in clinics, hospitals and urgent care settings, including emergency departments, and in urban, suburban and rural communities
As our nation struggles toward a universal healthcare system that incentivizes effectiveness – both in cost and outcome – Family Medicine, is in the forefront of the debate on system reorganization, and our discipline expects to play a prominent role in health care policy, planning and execution into the 21st century.
