Family medicine

Family medicine is a subspecialty of primary care that focuses on providing ongoing and all-encompassing medical treatment for individuals as well as their families throughout the whole spectrum of ages, genders, illnesses, and organs and systems of the human body. It is common practise to refer to the primary care physician or general practitioner as a family physician. The term "general practise" is frequently used to refer to both the field of medicine and its practitioners. Historically, their function was previously carried by by any practising physician who held a degree from an accredited medical school and worked in the local community. However, since the 1950s, family medicine or general practise has evolved into a field of medicine that is considered a speciality in its own right and has particular training requirements that are adapted for each nation. The names of the subfield either call attention to the holistic quality of the practise or to its familial origins. It places an emphasis on illness prevention and health promotion and is founded on the patient's own understanding of themselves within the context of their families and communities. Family medicine's objective is to "provide individualised, comprehensive, and continuous care for the individual within the framework of the family and the community," as stated by the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA). Generally speaking, the study and practise of ethics that pertain to primary care is known as primary care ethics.

Family physicians in the United States are required to have either a Doctor of Medicine or a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine degree. In the United States, in addition to receiving their medical degree, physicians who wish to specialise in family medicine are required to successfully complete an authorised family medicine residency programme that lasts either three or four years. After passing that, they are qualified to take a board certification test, which is necessary for employment at the majority of hospitals and health plans today. Diplomates of the American Board of Family Medicine are required to undergo an ongoing process of continuing medical education, medical knowledge review, patient care oversight through chart audits, practice-based learning through quality improvement projects, and retaking the board certification examination every seven to ten years in order to keep their certification current. Every eight years, diplomates of the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians are required to go through the process of recertification in order to keep their certification current.

After completing an extra two years of schooling, Canadian physicians can become qualified in the field of family medicine by obtaining their credentials via the College of Family Physicians of Canada. In order to keep one's certification current, one must also participate in ongoing educational opportunities.