Building the Future of Health Care on the Foundations of Family Practice Hold on to your heritage as a family physician. It may save the health care system, or at least save your patient from it. Although forecasters are predicting more change for health care, the essence of the doctor-patient relationship will remain the same. Until then, family physicians must work to keep their professionalism and pride intact. The greatest challenge we face as a nation is to guarantee everyone access to health care.
Family practice is the product of currents both swift and strong.
The paddler in the bow looks downstream for rocks, eddies and snags. The navigator's position is in the stern, where one can best see the shape of the river and steer the boat. Family physicians can best prepare for the next century by staying true to the values that have guided them in the past. Practicing quality family medicine is fundamental to the type of future our patients expect and deserve. As we navigate the future let us look deeply into the water, judge the currents and see our own reflection there.