A new buzz around primary care

Health Policy
June 21, 2014

I recently described the loathsome “relative value unit” (RVU) and its role in the decline in prestige and pay in primary care.  The RVU is maintained and updated by a small panel of 31 physicians called the Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC).  Twenty-seven of the 31 physicians are specialists, which is not at all representative of the physician workforce, given that primary care doctors comprise over one third …

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A new buzz around primary care

New skill sets are raising the prestige of primary care

Physician
June 12, 2014

Prestige in medicine often follows research. Physician-scientists who do basic science research have often been considered among the giants of medicine. As the field of medicine advanced, the gap between what we knew from basic science and how we practiced grew. This created a need for more translational researchers: physicians who could bring what they knew from the laboratory bench to the bedside through large clinical trials.

Now, the next great gap …

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New skill sets are raising the prestige of primary care

The resurgent interest in primary care

Physician
May 21, 2014

Much of the news we hear about primary care is disheartening at best, frightening at worst. Most of us have heard that there is a shortage of primary doctors, and with over seven million new patients enrolled (and counting) through Obamacare health exchanges, that shortage is going to get much worse. On the horizon, while medical schools are increasing their enrollment, there continues to be a dearth of students willing to apply to …

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The resurgent interest in primary care

Why family medicine was the best choice for me

Medical Education
May 3, 2013

When I came to medical school, I was certain I wanted to do primary care.  Despite the forces that steer many of us off the path – how many times have we heard, “but you’re too smart to do primary care!”? – after three years of medical school, I was still committed to primary care.

But I struggled with which type of program would be best for me. I applied to both …

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Why family medicine was the best choice for me