IAFP Asks Who Will Care If We Can't? Supply Of Family Physicians Not Keeping Up With Need For Their Services

3/20/2002

From: Ginnie Henry of the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians, 630-435-0356, ext. 118

LISLE, Ill., March 20 -- One out of every nine Illinois residents does not have access to a primary care physician. And nearly half of all annual office visits take place in a primary care physician's office. Meanwhile, fewer medical school graduates across the country are entering primary care specialties, including family practice. The current trend leaves the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians to ask, "Who will care?"

"Who will care if we can't?" is a report by the Illinois Academy of Family Physicians outlining the current challenges facing family physicians in caring for Illinois. The Academy summarizes research from the American Academy of Family Physician's (AAFP) Robert Graham Policy Center in Washington, D.C. on the impact of family physicians in caring for Illinois. Media and the public can access the report at http://www.iafp.com/PublicRelations/who(underscore) will(underscore)care.htm

Family practice is the only medical specialty distributed in every area where people reside. "You will find family physicians practicing from Cairo at the southern tip of Illinois to Galena in the far northwestern corner, serving rural underserved communities," says Ronald L. Johnson, M.D., IAFP board chair who practices in Pittsfield, a rural community in western Illinois. "Check out the urban underserved communities in Chicago, and you'll find family physicians there, too."

Out of over one thousand Illinois medical school graduates in 2001, only 109 (10.8 percent) entered family practice residency programs, down from 12.8 percent the previous year. At the same time, Illinois' 30 family practice residency programs only filled 85.8 percent of available positions in 2001. The lack of family practice graduates, coupled with cuts in graduate medical education funding, has led to residency programs cutting the number of slots offered in family practice for 2002 graduates. These cuts ultimately reduce the number of future family physicians to care for Illinois families.

"Medical student interest is lower for many reasons, including lower salaries and income for family physicians than other specialists due to lower reimbursement for primary care services, combined with rising medical school debt," says Patrick Tranmer, M.D., interim head of the Department of Family Medicine at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical School. "Students perceive a connection between the policies of managed care and the primary care physicians who administer them. We see less value placed on generalism in medical schools and the core concepts of family medicine: comprehensiveness, continuity, and community care."

Match Day is Thursday, March 21, when graduating medical students receive the results generated from the National Residents Matching Program (NMRP) with their residency training assignment. Students rank their top residency preferences, while the residency programs rank their preferred students. The computer system takes the data submitted, finds the "matches" and the results are revealed at noon eastern time on Match Day.

NMRP results for family practice nationally in 2002 are expected to be slightly higher than 2001, indicating that the decline rate may be leveling off. The Illinois Academy of Family Physicians will continue to support the 30 family practice residency programs in the state and advocate for the specialty at the 12 Illinois medical school campuses.

EDITOR'S NOTE: To speak with an Illinois medical student entering an Illinois Family Practice Residency program, an Illinois family physician leader or a family physician in your area, call Ginnie Henry to set up an interview.

------ The Illinois Academy of Family Physicians is a 4,500 member not-for-profit professional membership society dedicated to maintaining high standards of family practice in medicine and surgery. The IAFP is a chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the largest medical specialty society in the nation, with over 93,000 members.