How to Start a Direct Primary Care Practice Right Out of Residency

LILIAN WHITE; KENNETH QIU

PRACTICE PEARLS

Mar / Apr 2026

Tools to Help Family Physicians Advocate for Privileging and Credentialing for Their Qualified Scope of Practice

The Last Word

How to Start a Direct Primary Care Practice Right Out of Residency

LILIAN WHITE, MD

KENNETH QIU, MD

FPM. 2026;33(2):35.

Author disclosures: no relevant financial relationships.

Starting a DPC practice as a new doctor brings unique challenges, but none of them are insurmountable.

Dr. White is a 2023 graduate of the Cleveland Clinic's family medicine residency program and owner of Empowered Health in Rocky River, Ohio.

Dr. Qiu is a 2021 graduate of Virginia Commonwealth University's Riverside Regional Medical Center family medicine residency program and founder of EuDoc in Virginia, where he practices at its Midlothian location.

Author disclosures: no relevant financial relationships.

1.DPC defined. Direct Primary Care Frontier. Accessed Jan. 2, 2026. https://www.dpcfrontier.com/defined
2.Kauffman RD. Transitioning to direct primary care. Fam Pract Manag. 2020;27(4):29-34.
3.Tecco H, Rahim FO, Lalwani P, Palakodeti S. Direct primary care: financial analysis and potential to reshape the U.S. healthcare landscape. J Gen Intern Med. 2025;40(2):448-452.

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