What is family medicine?
Our chosen field has a bit of a marketing problem. Many specialists can summarize their focus by stating the name of a single organ; whereas, we are most easily described as a comparison to the historical “GP.” Not only does this fail to capture the complexity of what we actually do, it does a disservice to our recruiting abilities when medical students are choosing specialties.
So why is it so difficult to describe family medicine? The obvious answer is that family medicine supports so many variations of practice style that there really isn’t a single answer. The same flexibility and range of practice styles that make family medicine such a great field leads to a nebulous description.
I don’t have an answer as to the best way to describe us but I would like us to take a little more credit for what we do. We are not trained in “general medicine” we are full scope. We find solutions for patients that go beyond prescriptions and lab testing. We approach medical conditions in the context of other medical conditions, which are in turn within the context of life circumstances. Our patients have families, jobs, hobbies, goals and dreams. We treat people.
When I am I asked what my specialty is, I like to say: “I am a family medicine doctor. I’m the one that sticks with you. I am YOUR doctor.”
When someone asks you, “What is family medicine?” how do you respond?
