Primary Care Featured Items

"On today's program, we speak by phone with Dr. Fitzhugh Mullan, Professor of Medicine and Health Policy at The George Washington University. Dr. Mullan is one of the co-chairs for a conference called "Beyond Flexner 2012: Social Mission in Medical Education," which will happen next week at the Hyatt Regency Tulsa (at 100 East Second Street), from May 15th through the 17th."

"The current shortage of primary care physicians (PCPs), particularly as more individuals obtain health insurance and seek primary care services, is a growing national concern. The Crimson Care Collaborative (CCC) is a joint student–faculty initiative in post-health-care-reform Massachusetts that was started with the explicit goal of attracting medical students to primary care careers. It fills a niche for student-run clinics, providing evening access to primary care services for patients without a PCP and urgent care services for patients of a Massachusetts General Hospital–affiliated internal medicine clinic, with the aim of decreasing emergency department use in both groups."

"Today is a very big day for medical students: Earlier this afternoon, 38,377 of them found out whether they’d been accepted into one of the country’s 26,772 residency slots. It’s also a big day for the health care system too, as it gives us a sense of what kind of medicine our future doctors are interested in pursuing."

"After 2 years of notable increases in the number of U.S. medical students choosing primary care residencies, figures from this year’s National Resident Matching Program show interest remains level."

"Health care reform is a locomotive barreling down America's tracks. In two years, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will cover some 30 out of 50 million of us that currently lack health insurance, provided neither the Supreme Court nor a new president overturns the law. Political beliefs aside, it would seem that supplying insurance to protect the health of more people is a societal good."

"Most articles about why medical students don’t choose primary care will say that a career in primary care simply won’t pay off the enormous debt accrued in medical school. Indeed, the average 2010 graduate came away $157,944 in debt. And primary care salaries are in fact far lower than those of other specialties, a disparity that is increasing. However, I repeatedly ask medical students if they would choose a career in primary care if it would completely erase their student loan debt. A few hands go up, but not many."

"The National Health Service Corps (NHSC) awarded $9.1 million in funding to medical students in 30 States and the District of Columbia who will serve as primary care doctors and help strengthen the health care workforce, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today at the Eisner Pediatric and Family Medical Center, a community health center in Los Angeles, Calif."

"Part I of Dr. Starfield's update of her seminal books, Primary Care: Concept, Evaluation, and Policy and Primary Care: Balancing Health Needs, Services, and Technology, comprises 6 invited lectures plus an 11-lecture course that examines the meaning, practice, and effectiveness of primary care. Topics include disease, morbidity, primary care innovations, health equities and disparities, prevention, and specialist care."

"This fact sheet shows that primary care physicians, nurse practitioners, and physician assistants are more likely to practice in rural areas than are non-primary care specialists, but are still more concentrated in urban areas."