Family Medicine

Department Overview

C408 Health Sciences

Family medicine is the medical specialty which provides continuing, comprehensive health care for the individual and family. It is a specialty in breadth that integrates the biological, clinical, and behavioral sciences. The scope of family medicine encompasses all ages, both sexes, each organ system and, every disease entity. The prime instructional goal of the department is the education and training of physicians who apply the knowledge and skills of this and other medical disciplines in family practice. Implicit in this goal is the necessity for continual development of new knowledge and its application in the clinical activities of the department.

The Department of Family Medicine was founded in 1971 and is involved with instruction of medical students in several ways. These include presentations in the basic curriculum of the first two years, clinical clerkships as part of the clinical core curriculum, and other elective courses and programs, including an underserved, interdisciplinary service-learning program, a four-week rural or urban underserved experience, an introductory continuity preceptorship, and independent investigative inquiry and research opportunities. A graduate residency program in family medicine provides clinical training that meets the standards of the American Board of Family Practice and the Council on Graduate Medical Education of the American Medical Association. Active affiliations are maintained throughout the WWAMI region in predoctoral, residency, fellowship, and continuing medical education in clinical care, teaching, and research.