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Family Medicine: The Center of Primary Care
Family medicine is the only medical specialty to provide care that is first-contact, continuous, coordinated, and comprehensive.
Unlike other specialties that are limited to a particular organ or disease, family physicians are the only specialists qualified to treat most ailments and provide comprehensive health care for people of all ages — from newborns to elders. This looks like:
- Caring for patients regardless of age or health condition, sustaining an enduring and trusting relationship
- Understanding community-level factors and social determinants of health
- Serving as a patient’s first contact for health concerns
- Navigating the health care system with patients, including specialist and hospital care coordination and follow-up
- Using the most up-to-date technology to coordinate services and enhance care
- Considering the impact of health on a patient’s family
Building patient-physician relationships on a personal level place family physicians as the cornerstone of health care and family physicians provide the majority of care for America’s underserved rural and urban populations. In addition to diagnosing and treating illness, they also provide preventive care and manage chronic illness, often working in interprofessional teams to coordinate care provided by other subspecialists and health professionals.
As multipurpose specialists, family physicians deliver care in a variety of settings, including:
- rural clinics and hospitals
- community health clinics
- private practices including direct primary care
- assisted living facilities and nursing homes
- public schools and student health clinics
- professional sports teams
- Veterans Affairs clinics and hospitals
Some family physicians choose to subspecialize through fellowships in surgical obstetrics, addiction medicine, health care policy, integrative medicine, sports medicine, international/global health, and many others.
As the needs of their communities and patients evolve, family physicians are able to adapt their procedures and skills to meet those needs, tailoring their clinical services to patients and their situations.
Source: American Academy of Family Physicians Demographic Data Collection Survey, December 31, 2018
What is the Life of a Typical Family Physician?
The quick answer is that there is no typical family physician. The breadth and variety of practices in which family physicians are engaged make it a unique specialty, and only you can decide if family medicine is a good fit for you.
Watch A Week in the Life of a Family Physician:
Explore More in Family Medicine
- Vibe Check: is Family Medicine Right for Me? webinar
- What is Family Medicine? webinar
- Attend FUTURE (National Conference) as an MS1
- Attend the Family Medicine Advocacy Summit as an MS1
- Attend an event from your state academy, such as the Washington Academy of Family Physicians’ annual student and resident retreat
- Check out the recordings of FM physician-led panel discussions and workshops, residency application and match presentations, and more in the FMIG & Advising Video Library.
Work-Life Balance: Because of the incredible diversity of opportunities for family physicians, family medicine offers a higher degree of flexibility than many other medical specialties. Along with community health clinics, rural clinics and hospitals, academic hospitals, and more, many family physicians pursue career paths in public health, advocacy, teaching, and research. Many family physicians practice part-time. Between the wide scope of the specialty and the flexibility in career options, it’s no wonder that . Learn more about career options in family medicine.
Source: American Academy of Family Physicians Demographic Data Collection Survey, December 31, 2018
Career Statistics for Family Medicine
Income: In 2022, the average full-time family physician’s compensation was $274,359. On average, full-time starting family physicians made $236,079 salary plus bonus while physicians with 20 or more years in practice made $292,373.
In some areas, family physicians who practice maternity care can expect to earn an average of $5,000 – $15,000 more per year in net income. Additionally, starting bonuses can reach as high as $30,000 for family physicians.
The Work Week: Family physicians work an average of 50.8 hours each week, including 41.3 hours of direct patient care. Each week family doctors have an average of 91.8 office visits, 9.5 hospital visits, 2.7 nursing home visits, 0.4 house calls, 5.4 patients supervised under home health care, 8.4 nursing home patients supervised, 1.7 hospice patients supervised, and 7.8 patients given free or discounted care.
Working Environment: 42.6% of family physicians work for a family practice group, 21.7% for a multispecialty group, 18.1% work solo, 8.4% work for 2-person group, and 2.7% work for an HMO. Non-traditional options for family physicians include working in health care policy, management roles in health care organizations, epidemiology/public health advocacy, business and industry roles, medical informatics, international health, and part-time or shared practice arrangements.
Learn more by becoming a (free) student member of the AAFP and exploring their Family Medicine Career Benchmark Dashboard.
Information on this page is from the American Academy of Family Physicians.
Updated July 2025