Residency for Family Medicine – Overview
In an age when specialists seem to be garnering all the attention, let’s not forget the essential aspect of family physicians.
Research studies have shown the incredible potential and critical nature of family medicine in improving the health of the entire community.
What is Residency for Family Medicine?
Family medicine physicians, also called family practitioners, are trained to prevent, diagnose, and treat various disorders and diseases.
Family physicians can diagnose and treat patients of all ages. Family medicine has an incredibly broad scope.
Family medicine is a broad and comprehensive specialty that integrates a range of healthcare aspects, including behavioral, biomedical, and social sciences.
Family medicine focuses on providing healthcare services to an entire family consisting of parents and their children.
As a family physician, you must use several cognitive and procedural skills. You will be responsible for coordinating with specialists when required.
Family physicians receive training in a wide range of areas, including internal medicine, psychiatry, obstetrics and gynecology, geriatrics, and pediatrics, focusing on non-operative treatments.
In short, as a family physician, you will be responsible for serving everyone in some capacity.
What education, training, and certification are required to become a family medicine physician?
Family medicine is focused on providing complete healthcare to the members of a family. This specialty encompasses healthcare for all, irrespective of age and gender.
They are trained to diagnose, treat and prevent disorders and diseases affecting every organ system.
To become a family physician in the US, you must first acquire a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree or equivalent Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO).
The training for this profession begins right at college. Following this, you will need to enroll in a medical school for a 4-year medicine program and then move on to residency for family medicine.
Let’s take a closer look at the educational requirements and training needed to become a certified and skilled family medicine physician in the United States:
1 – Medical School
The US has more than 170 accredited medical schools, accredited by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education (LCME) for MD programs and the American Osteopathic Association’s Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation (COCA) for DO programs.
As a medical student, you must clock around 9,000 hours in lectures, labs, clinical studies and patient care.
While in medical school, students should take the first two steps of the United States Medical Licensing Examination (USMLE) for MD students or the Comprehensive Osteopathic Medical Licensing Examination (COMLEX-USA) for DO students.
Apart from this, you will also need to complete periods of clinical instruction or core clerkship.
Once you pass the classes and both the exams the clerkship will grant you the MD or DO degree which is necessary to begin your residency for family medicine.
2 – Residency for Family Medicine
Physicians in family medicine can choose to train in one of 600 family medicine residency programs.
The residency for family medicine programs is verified by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medicine Education (ACGME) and usually involves three years of training.
After completing medical school, graduates must pass Step 3 of the USMLE or Level 3 of the COMLEX-USA during their residency, typically after the first year of training.
During these three years of training, students enrolled in a residency in family medicine must fulfill all educational, training, and certification requirements as dictated by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM).
Once you have fulfilled all program requirements during these three years of training, you are considered eligible to appear for the certification exam held by the ABFM.
When you reach the end of your residency in family medicine, you will also need to apply for a license to practice from your state’s medical board.
This statement is accurate as written and requires no correction. It correctly states the progression to board eligibility.
What is the career scope and salary for a Family Medicine Physician in the US?
Once you complete your residency in family medicine, acquire the state license, and successfully pass the ABFM board examination, you can apply for a job as a family physician at hospitals, clinics, community healthcare centers, and even research facilities.
On average, a doctor of family medicine has the potential to earn as much as $192,000 per year as the median academic salary. Family physicians can earn as much as $211,000 per year on average as the median clinical salary in the US.
Conclusion
Residency in family medicine is essential to qualify for state licensure and the ABFM board examination. Make sure to choose a place of medicinal residency that is reliable and accredited by the USMLE.
See Also
Residency for Anesthesiologist
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