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Family Medicine: Fifty Years of Caring for America

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Family Medicine

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Abstract

In its early years, the specialty of family medicine had originated within the lifetimes of its practitioners. As family medicine celebrates its 50th anniversary, the founding generation has retired, and today’s family physicians (FPs) are providing care in a very different world. Few are in solo practice. Many are employed in integrated health systems. and most use electronic information systems to document care and communicate with patients. Since its beginning in 1969, family medicine has become one of medicine’s largest and most successful specialties. And yet many of its current members are unfamiliar with the inspiring story of how the specialty began. For this reason, this book begins with an overview of the specialty’s origin, evolution, and current status. The goal of this chapter is not simply to preserve a record of the past but also to explain how family medicine came to be the way it is, to delineate lessons learned by its first two generations of leaders, and to provide a context for building the discipline’s future.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    John W. Saultz

  2. Oregon Health and Science University, Portland, OR, USA

    Robert B. Taylor

  3. Department of Family Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA

    Paul M. Paulman

Authors
  1. John W. Saultz
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  2. Robert B. Taylor
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  3. Paul M. Paulman
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to John W. Saultz .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Family Medicine, University of Nebraska, Omaha, NE, USA

    Paul Paulman

  2. Department of Family and Community Medicine, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk, VA, USA

    Robert B. Taylor

  3. Department of Family Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA

    Audrey A. Paulman

  4. Department of Family Medicine, Creighton University, Omaha, NE, USA

    Laeth S. Nasir

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Saultz, J.W., Taylor, R.B., Paulman, P.M. (2020). Family Medicine: Fifty Years of Caring for America. In: Paulman, P., Taylor, R., Paulman, A., Nasir, L. (eds) Family Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0779-3_159-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-0779-3_159-1

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4939-0779-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4939-0779-3

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference MedicineReference Module Medicine

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