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Primary Care Physician

Family Medicine ⧫ General Internal Medicine ⧫ Pediatrics

HPA Career of the Month

November 2024

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What is Primary Care?

  • The Institute of Medicine defines primary care as “the provision of integrated, accessible health care services by clinicians who are accountable for addressing a large majority of personal health care needs, developing a sustained partnership with patients, and practicing in the context of family and community.”
  • Primary care medicine emphasizes on the physician-patient relationship by shifting the focus from physician-centered care to patient-centered care. Primary care physicians provide care that is first-contact, comprehensive, continuous, and coordinated.
  • Primary care physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved rural and urban populations. More than half of all office visits in the US are to a primary care physician.
  • Access to a regular primary care physician has been linked to:
    • Lower infant mortality
    • Higher birth weights
    • Immunization rates above national standards
    • Lower overall health care costs
    • Longer, healthier lives

AAFP: The Specialty of Family Medicine

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Specialties in Primary Care

  • Family medicine physicians provide continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and family. It is a specialty in breadth that integrates the biological, clinical and behavioral sciences. Physicians treat most ailments and provide comprehensive health care for people of all ages — from newborns to seniors.
  • Internal medicine physicians are specialists who apply scientific knowledge and clinical expertise to the diagnosis, treatment, and compassionate care of adults across the spectrum from health to complex illness.
  • Pediatrics is primarily concerned with the health of children from birth to young adulthood. Beyond physical well-being, pediatricians are involved with the prevention, early detection, and management of behavioral, developmental, and functional social problems that affect their patients. A pediatrician deals with biological, social, and environmental influences on the developing child as well as with the impact of disease or dysfunction on development. 

AAMC.org

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Medical Training in Primary Care

  • Undergraduate medical education in accredited MD or DO programs.
    • Internal medicine and pediatrics are required clerkships during medical school that provide a taste of the specialties. Family medicine is sometimes required, or may be taken as an elective rotation.
    • During fourth year, medical students work with faculty advisers to select elective rotations that will help them narrow down and prepare for their future career choice.
  • Graduate medical education, or residency.
    • Family medicine, general internal medicine, and pediatrics are all three year residency programs.
  • Fellowship: optional 1-2 year subspeciality training in fields including geriatric medicine, sleep medicine, sports medicine, addiction medicine, and obstetrics.

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Sample residency program websites:

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What do Family Physicians Do?

From delivering babies to practicing sports medicine and providing end-of-life care, �family physicians do it all. Watch this 1-minute video to learn more!

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Allopathic medical schools that produce a high percentage of family medicine residents

  • University of New Mexico
  • University of Minnesota
  • University of South Dakota
  • University of Kansas
  • University of Arkansas
  • Michigan State University
  • University of of Nebraska
  • Texas Tech University
  • University of California - Davis

Medical Schools for Family Medicine

A large percentage of osteopathic medical students pursue residency in family medicine.

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The AAMC Medical School Admissions Requirements guide provides statistics on percentage of MD graduates entering each specialty, as well as each school’s efforts in promoting primary care.

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Practice Options

  • Community Health Center
  • Education
  • Emergency Medicine and Urgent Care
  • Hospitalist
  • Inpatient Medicine
  • International and Wilderness Medicine
  • Maternity Care
  • Multispecialty Group Practice
  • Procedures
  • Public Health
  • Research
  • Rural or Urban Practice
  • Sports Medicine

Career Options in Family Medicine

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Lifestyle and Income

  • Family physicians cite their specialty as rewarding for numerous reasons:
    • It allows them to maintain “life balance” while also managing a schedule that’s busy enough to accommodate patients with an array of needs.
    • One family physician calls family medicine “among the most gratifying of all medical specialties,” noting, “The variety and clinical challenges it offers are endless, which promises a lifetime of stimulation and learning.”
    • Family physicians are needed in every part of the country. They have the option to choose their location and work in urban or rural settings, to pick their practice environment and scope of practice, and to pursue different career paths, such as public health, teaching, and research.
  • The Medical Group Management Association’s 2024 Provider Compensation and Production Report shows that average salaries are increasing in primary care:
    • Family Medicine: $258,947
    • Internal Medicine: $268,658
    • Pediatrics: $232,409
  • Primary care physicians are also eligible for a number of loan forgiveness / repayment incentive programs that may help ease med school debt burden

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In Their Own Words

AAFP News #FamilyDocFocus

www.aafp.org/news/family-doc-focus.html

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For More Information…

  • American Academy of Family Physicians: AAFP.org
  • American Board of Internal Medicine: ABIM.org
  • American Academy of Pediatrics: AAP.org
  • American Medical Association: AMA-ASSN.org

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Articles of Interest

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This resource was developed by the Office of Health Professions Advising at Princeton University and may be shared for educational purposes.

LAST UPDATED NOVEMBER 2024