Four Pillars for Primary Care Physician Workforce Development

Developed by the Council of Academic Family Medicine, this graphic depicts four pillars for how the U.S. can expand the primary care physician workforce in order to meet the population health needs of the country and to address the priorities of better access, better health, a better care experience, and reduced costs.  The four pillars (pipeline, process of medical education, practice transformation, and payment reform) provide consistent language to improve communication and advocacy about the need for increased numbers of well-trained primary care physicians.

The Council of Academic Family Medicine consists of the the leadership of the Association of Departments of Family Medicine, the Association of Family Medicine Residency Directors, the North American Primary Care Research Group and the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.  Goals of this Council include: Provide a unified voice for academic family medicine; provide a structure for working together more effectively; and provide a place for outside organizations to come to collaborate.