FSU leads in family-practice doctors

November 17, 2008
Angeline J. Taylor

Florida State University's College of Medicine has been ranked fourth in the nation in the percentage of graduating doctors who specialize in family medicine — a field in which the pool of physicians nationwide is dwindling.

The ranking was given by the American Academy of Family Physicians as part of its 2008 study. Over a three-year period, nearly 18 percent of FSU College of Medicine graduates have gone into family-medicine residences. No other medical school in Florida ranked among the top 60. The closest was the University of South Florida's medical school, which came in at 66th place.

"We are facing a shortage of primary-care physicians," said Dr. Alma Littles, FSU's senior associate dean of academic affairs. "With our first several classes, we made it to the top — that gives us a sense of pride."

FSU's medical school was established with the mission to prepare doctors "to practice primary care, geriatric and rural medicine," according to Florida Statute. The mission helps boost the number of medical school graduates entering family practice. According to the college's spokesman, Doug Carlson, between 1997 and 2005 the number of medical-school graduates entering primary-care fields decreased by more than half.

"As a medical school, we can't necessarily control what our students choose for a specialty, but through our admissions process and educational program we try to identify and influence students likely to care for the medically under-served populations," said Dr. Daniel Van Durme, professor and chair of the department of family medicine and rural health.

To read more visit our source at http://tallahassee.com/article/20081117/NEWS01/811170311/1010.