Predictions for Family Practice

[allendo]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

I want opinions on the future of family practice? Will it survive?

 

[buddym]

There will always be a need for good family physicians. Especially in rural areas. Many of these areas cannot draw many doctors in, and will need one with multiple talents, like a family medicine physician.

 

[allendo]

There will always be a need for good family physicians. Especially in rural areas. Many of these areas cannot draw many doctors in, and will need one with multiple talents, like a family medicine physician.

Do you think PA's and NP's will ever replace the family practice doc?

 

[novacek88]

Do you think PA's and NP's will ever replace the family practice doc?

No, if anything PA's are a godsend to Family Practice physicians. The family practice docs that earn a lot of money usually hire 1 or 2 PA's to accept an increased patient load. I heard that after expenses, FP docs can expect to make 50-60K off a PA assuming of course their practice is busy enough.

 

[allendo]

Is it worth the time to do a fp/er residency? Or get out and start working sooner?

 

[novacek88]

Is it worth the time to do a fp/er residency? Or get out and start working sooner?

That depends on what you want to do of course. ER and FP are two different fields.

 

[allendo]

I thought it might be nice to have the dual certification to fall back on. So when you get tired of one you could work in the other. The er certification I thought would also allow me the option of locum tenen. But as I talk to more and more er docs they seem very stressed and unhappy.

 

[iatrosB]

Do you think PA's and NP's will ever replace the family practice doc?

You will hear this in every field of medicine. There is chicken littles in every profession. Honestly, no one on this forum can predict the future. We can however predict that you will be un-happy if you do not do what you love. You will always have a job as a doctor, do what you love and you will be a great one. Good luck.

 

[iatrosB]

I thought it might be nice to have the dual certification to fall back on. So when you get tired of one you could work in the other. The er certification I thought would also allow me the option of locum tenen. But as I talk to more and more er docs they seem very stressed and unhappy.

Dual certification certainly can't hurt you. One thing to remember about bitter doctors, try to talk to the younger ones. They are usually less bitter because they haven't gone through the changes in the medical system like the older ones have.

 

[thanks]

See the thread a bout the "Future of Family Medicine Project" for predictions straight from the AAFP and what changes they see necessary.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I thought it might be nice to have the dual certification to fall back on. So when you get tired of one you could work in the other. The er certification I thought would also allow me the option of locum tenen. But as I talk to more and more er docs they seem very stressed and unhappy.

It is not necessary to finish an EM residency to work in an ED. Many smaller community type EDs are staffed not with residency trained EM physicians but rather FPs and internists, even some surgeons. Obviously bigger name places generally prefer, if not require EM trained personnel, but if you're just thinking about the certification for locum or occasional work, doesn't seem necessary to me unless you're really interested.

 

[skypilot]

I thought it might be nice to have the dual certification to fall back on. So when you get tired of one you could work in the other. The er certification I thought would also allow me the option of locum tenen. But as I talk to more and more er docs they seem very stressed and unhappy.

Plus tons of locums work is available for FP docs filling in for leaves of absence, vacations, illnesses etc.

 

[iatrosB]

It is not necessary to finish an EM residency to work in an ED. Many smaller community type EDs are staffed not with residency trained EM physicians but rather FPs and internists, even some surgeons. Obviously bigger name places generally prefer, if not require EM trained personnel, but if you're just thinking about the certification for locum or occasional work, doesn't seem necessary to me unless you're really interested.

Do you think this trend will change? I would love to go into family practice and moonlight every once in a while in an ED and maybe even transition into an ED practice. Will this be possible in the future?

 

[cooldreams]

Do you think this trend will change? I would love to go into family practice and moonlight every once in a while in an ED and maybe even transition into an ED practice. Will this be possible in the future?

that seems like it would be a cool idea...

man im loving this, a bunch of my classmates have really close interests to mine yay 🙂 heheh

 

[iatrosB]

that seems like it would be a cool idea...

man im loving this, a bunch of my classmates have really close interests to mine yay 🙂 heheh

You're pretty set on EM though right? You'll probably just go the EM residency route. I am going to try to sneak in the back door because I like FP so much.

 

[cooldreams]

You're pretty set on EM though right? You'll probably just go the EM residency route. I am going to try to sneak in the back door because I like FP so much.

man imstill not sure. i just like the generally broad scope that each does, i like em over fp because you are doing real emergencies and really saving ppls lives and you are working in a fast paced team environment. i like fp over em because its scope is even broader if you want it to be, and you get to know ppl an take it slower to try to get to the root of a problem, and it is like you are running your own business which ive already done and enjoyed. i dunno... i like them both, but since em seems a little more competitive, i am trying to gear myself for that so i could basically cover them both for whatever i decide later on.... maybe i could go be a rural fp doc who also works the ed parttime or something... dunno...

 

[iatrosB]

man imstill not sure. i dunno... i like them both... dunno...

I guess that's because we're OMS-1 🙂 Hopefully it will all be clear once we start rotations, hopefully. My guess is that I will like FP, EM, and Peds all and be no further in my decision than I am now, time will tell.

 

[PACtoDOC]

I guess that's because we're OMS-1 🙂 Hopefully it will all be clear once we start rotations, hopefully. My guess is that I will like FP, EM, and Peds all and be no further in my decision than I am now, time will tell.

The OMS designation is nothing approved, nor accepted by mainstream DO students. Our school flat out desires for us to continue to be MS's as we have been for years. Everyone knows we are DO students because of our patch, the school we are at, and because of tradition. But to follow these rogue DO students attempting to distance themselves from the medical world will only cause problems in my opinion. People now understand that DO students are medical students, but to have them memorize another initial will get us confused with optometry students, chiropractic students, podiatry students (who DO NOT go by the term MS).

And I hate to burst your bubble, but EM medicine is not the "saving lives" and "working as a team" like you think it is. That may happen rarely, but more times than not, the ED is an after hours family practice infiltrated by drug seeking losers and the occasional MVA or GSW that only the surgeon can really help anyway.

Good luck to you though, and right now, be more worried about making it through your first 3 years of school. You may undoubtedly be exposed to multiple disciplines of medicine that you find appealing and all your focus now may be for nothing.

 

[iatrosB]

The OMS designation is nothing approved, nor accepted by mainstream DO students. Our school flat out desires for us to continue to be MS's as we have been for years. Everyone knows we are DO students because of our patch, the school we are at, and because of tradition. But to follow these rogue DO students attempting to distance themselves from the medical world will only cause problems in my opinion. People now understand that DO students are medical students, but to have them memorize another initial will get us confused with optometry students, chiropractic students, podiatry students (who DO NOT go by the term MS).

And I hate to burst your bubble, but EM medicine is not the "saving lives" and "working as a team" like you think it is.

First off, that wasn't my "bubble"

Second, the OMS-1 comment was made as a personal joke to cooldreams, but hey, thanks for playing!

iatrosb
oms-1

 

[cooldreams]

First off, that wasn't my "bubble"

Second, the OMS-1 comment was made as a personal joke to cooldreams, but hey, thanks for playing!

iatrosb
oms-1

yea yea 😛

i know that a lot of EM is not saving lives and team work, but it seemed to me that more of it was than other specialties. and as for late night family clinic, i am not at all worried about that either, at this point anyways, because i am currently interested in both 🙂 so all you have done here is make EM sound that much better to me hehehe

i thought that the oms designation was something that the AOA wanted to move forward with? is that incorrect?

 

[PACtoDOC]

yea yea 😛

i know that a lot of EM is not saving lives and team work, but it seemed to me that more of it was than other specialties. and as for late night family clinic, i am not at all worried about that either, at this point anyways, because i am currently interested in both 🙂 so all you have done here is make EM sound that much better to me hehehe

i thought that the oms designation was something that the AOA wanted to move forward with? is that incorrect?

The AOA has no say over what DO schools wish to call their students. The AOA comes up with many rather peculiar ideas but they usually just get ignored. For instance, what about the idea on sending postcards to TV studios to ask them to have DO characters on their shows? That was just crazy!!

Sorry for getting the bubble mixed up Cooldreams.

 

[cooldreams]

The AOA has no say over what DO schools wish to call their students. The AOA comes up with many rather peculiar ideas but they usually just get ignored. For instance, what about the idea on sending postcards to TV studios to ask them to have DO characters on their shows? That was just crazy!!

Sorry for getting the bubble mixed up Cooldreams.

i just got and finished the book "The DO's"

i must say im quite ashamed for not having read it sooner. i am like 1000 times happier with becoming a DO now for it. if anyone has not read it, i urge you to do so.

 

[CambieMD]

I want opinions on the future of family practice? Will it survive?

FPs will always be around. The problem is that increased governmental regulations and red tape will make practicing FP less and less attractive.

CambieMD

 

[juddson]

FPs will always be around. The problem is that increased governmental regulations and red tape will make practicing FP less and less attractive.

CambieMD

I'm just an MS1, but the field interests me quite a bit. I admit that a few months ago it was pretty far from my mind. But at my school each of us has been assigned an OB patient, and I see mine in an FP clinic. From the get-go I have been hugely impressed with the breadth of my preceptor's practice. For one, he makes OB a big part of his practice, which is really cool. He also does vasectomies (is that common?) and seems to have a very broad practice.

As far as I know, there are no mid-levels in the practice, but it is an academic practice, and so it has several residents and a few students doing rotations.

Judd