Family Physicians Tout Their Specialty to Medical Students

Want to practice medicine? Real medicine? Then go into family medicine. That's where physicians see, diagnose and treat patients with conditions as varied as umbilical cord prolapse, retinitis pigmentosa, aniridia, latent hemorrhagic disease of newborns, green tea hepatitis, idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura and thyroid storm associated with Grave's disease in pregnancy.

Even better, family physicians can practice in the location that best meets their lifestyle choices.

That was the message some 30 Ohio medical students got recently when three practicing family physicians recounted their experiences as family doctors in urban and rural settings during a panel discussion. In addition to hearing about varied clinical practice opportunities, the students learned about job opportunities and practice options that can help them repay medical school loans.

The exchange took place during the Ohio AFP's March 24-26 Mega Spring Event, which brought together medical students, residents, faculty members and family medicine residency program directors to share information, research and experiences.

"That's the fun of family medicine," said Bruce Gebhardt, M.D., clinical associate professor of family medicine at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. "You keep your eyes open and learn all the time. Can you make money? The short answer is yes. It's less than subspecialists make, but you can make a lot of money in family medicine if that's how you choose to practice."

Gebhardt said he chose family medicine because the average income of $150,000 a year offered him assurances of a comfortable life and because "I wanted to enjoy what I do, I wanted to be a part of the community, I wanted to learn something new each day, and I wanted to feel like I've done something good. But if you're in this just to make money, you should go into business, you should work on Wall Street."

Bruce Longenecker, M.D., clinical associate professor of family medicine and assistant dean for rural medical education at Ohio State University College of Medicine, Columbus, agreed. "I chose family medicine because of the lifestyle," he said. "It was more controllable."

AAFP data appear to support Longenecker's contention. The 2005 Facts About Family Medicine survey found that family physicians work an average of 40 hours per week in patient care compared with some subspecialists, who work an average of 61 hours per week.

The panelists acknowledged the specter of medical school loan repayment, but they added that those obligations could be managed if new family physicians capitalize on practice opportunities that offer loan repayment or forgiveness provisions.

"You can pay off your student loans in five to 10 years and mostly in five years," said Doug Harley, D.O., of Warren, Ohio, who completed his family medicine residency last year. "Don’t worry about your student loans."

Family medicine positions that qualify for loan repayment programs abound in rural, suburban and urban areas, with more than 900 qualifying positions currently available in locations ranging from San Diego to Washington, D.C., and from American Samoa to Kodiak, Alaska.

"If you take a job in a medically underserved area, you get a salary, you pay off your loan and you do good for the community," said Gebhardt. "Right now, there are 1,234 family physician openings in underserved areas. There's money that people are walking away from."

That money comes from the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program, which provides up to $50,000 for a two-year service commitment in a medically underserved area and up to $35,000 per year for each succeeding one-year commitment. Loan repayments are exempt from federal income and employment taxes.

Moreover, national data increasingly demonstrate a growing demand for family physicians, who rank in the top five specialties most highly recruited, according to a recent report (PDF file: 12 pages / 199 KB. More about PDFs.) from Merritt, Hawkins & Associates, a national physician search firm.