| What Is Family Medicine? |
| Family Medicine in PA |
Family doctors see more patients than any other specialist, but there remains confusion about exactly what is "Family Medicine." This timeless discipline has experienced great change in the last 50 years, but it remains the nucleus of patient care.
The PAFP has created a series of reports to reintroduce you to this evolving specialty.
Issue #1: The first publication in the series defines the specialty through reports, official definitions and patient descriptions. It also introduces you to PAFP members through photographs, interviews and patient stories. This report tells you why:
- Most people (in PA and the United States) rely on family physicians.
- Pennsylvanians value their family physicians.
- Family medicine is patient and community care.
- Family physicians are uniquely prepared to care for the "whole person."
- Lifelong learning keeps family doctors grounded in science and technology.
- The relationship is the heart of the process.
- Family physicians are hands-on patient advocates.
- Education and research drive healthcare improvements.
- The PAFP speaks for family medicine and has an impact on public health policy, individual patient care and the many other issues important to family medicine.
|  | Issue #1:
Who We Are & What We Do
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| Issue #2: Imagine Yourself as a Family Physician. If you're looking for easy, this isn't for you. But if you want to make a difference in people's lives, family medicine just may be the answer.
- Read about preparation for medical school and consideration of personality traits that best suit family medicine.
- Read about choosing family medicine as a career in medical school and applying to a family medicine residency program.
- Read about getting started in practice with license and board exams plus career path decisions.
- Read about a career-long commitment to excellence in healthcare that includes continuing medical education, license and board renewal, research and a commitment to physician citizenship.
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Issue #2:
A Look at the Education
of a Family Physician
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| Issue #3: PAFP positions on... - Public health, scope of practice, medical economics, medical professional liability and patient safety
- Specific policies on current legislation
- Who to contact on what issues
- Healthcare reform
- Being a family physician is a difficult job. But being a legislator or policymaker is no easier. Healthcare decisions by public officials - made in the less than ideal circumstances of shrinking budgets, expanding priorities and competing interests - affect thousands, if not millions of people.
|  | Issue #3:
What We Believe
About Issues
Facing Family Medicine |
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