About Family Physicians...

The family physician is a physician who is educated and trained in family medicine - a broadly encompassing medical specialty.

Family physicians possess unique attitudes, skills, and knowledge which qualify them to provide continuing and comprehensive medical care, health maintenance and preventive services to each member of the family regardless of sex, age or type of problem, be it biological, behavioral, or social.

Family Physician Education and Training
After eight years of undergraduate college and medical school, these physicians complete a three-year specialty residency in Family Medicine. Of the more than 450 approved family medicine residencies nationwide, Massachusetts has five of the mostly highly acclaimed programs. These programs train not only graduates of Massachusetts’ medical schools but also those of medical schools across the nation and around the world.

Comprehensive Care to Patients
Family physicians, because of their background and interactions with their patients, are best qualified to serve as each patient’s advocate in all health-related matters, including the appropriate use of consultants, health services, and community resources.

Evaluates Patient’s Total Health Care Needs
The family physician serves the public as the physician of first contact and means of entry into the health care system; the family physician evaluates the patient’s total health needs, provides personal medical care within one or more fields of medicine, and refers patients, when indicated, to appropriate sources of care while preserving the continuity of the patient’s care; the family physician accepts responsibility for the patient’s total health care, including the use of consultants, within the context of their environment - the family and the community.

Quality Assurance Through Continuing Education
As a constituent chapter of the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Massachusetts Academy of Family Physicians provides continuing medical education to family physicians in Massachusetts. Members of the MassAFP must complete a minimum of 150 credits of approved continuing medical education every three years to maintain membership.

Examination to measure competency in the specialty of family medicine and to grant certification are administered by the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM). Three hundred credits of continuing medical education (CME) are needed to take the board examination. The ABFM was the first certifying board to require recertification by examination every seven years. The Maintenance of Certification Program for Family Physicians (MC-FP) is a new mechanism for assessment of practicing family physicians. In the past, recertification has required possession of a full and unrestricted license, completion of 300 credits of continuing medical education, and successful completion of a cognitive examination. MC-FP has similar requirements, but will also require participation on an ongoing basis between examinations. The major objective of MC-FP is to provide opportunities for prospective professional development.

Continuing medical education requirements of the MassAFP/AAFP requires that members helps assure ongoing quality health care for each individual and family in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.