Family Medicine

Family Medicine: a physician who is concerned with the total health care of the patient and family, and is trained to diagnose and treat a wide variety of ailments in patients of all ages.

Doctors in this speciality place a premium on prevention, primary care of entire families, utilizing consultations and community resources.

Quick Facts

Competitiveness: low to moderate

Length of training: 3 years

Number of residency programs: 497

Number of residents in training: 9,799

Number in U.S. currently Board Certified in specialty: 60,917

First year median compensation: $120,000

Mean number of hours per week in patient care activities: 50.6

Residency Information

The 3 years of residency training combines experience in both the hospital and ambulatory care settings. Otherwise, a lot of time is spent in a family practice center, which is intended to mirror a private practice setting. You will find in family medicine that continuity of care is emphasized and physicians will follow their own panel of patients for all three years of their residency.

After completing your residency you have the option to subspecialize in two areas:

  • Geriatric Medicine- special knowledge of the aging process and skills in the diagnostic, therapeutic, preventive and rehabilitative aspects of illness in the elderly
  • Sports Medicine- deals with the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of injuries sustained in athletic endeavors.

Why Choose

Many individuals choosing this specialty made up their minds well before starting medical school. Some doctors state their own family doctors served as role models, while others always wanted to work with people and provide a broad base of medical care.

Family medicine is appealing because it allows a doctor to have a number of practice opportunities. For instance, they never want to deal with a single patient population and really enjoy the ability to treat all members of a family and not just one individual.

Typical Schedule

The working hours of these doctors may be overrated because many family medicine doctors report working about 9 to 10 hours each day, which is lower than surgeons. The factor which turns many potential physicians away from this specialty is the schedule disruptions during the day.

Each day will always be different from dealing with trauma and lacerations to other days which focus on family planning and childbirth. But, doctors in this specialty will manage virtually all aspects of patient care within the confines of their office or when a consultation is required they will be the individuals coordinating and advocating on behalf of their patient.

If You're Interested

You need to see how this specialty is really operates and the best way is to do a preceptorship in a family practice setting in the local community. It is here that you will get a full appreciation of the specialty. Students are also advised to consider how comfortable they will be, "knowing a little, about a lot." Because you will never be able to know all aspects of medicine.

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