The joint task force felt that it was important to couple the educational guidelines with the joint statement on privileges. For this purpose, they are printed as four attached pages rather than as separate documents stapled together. All physicians should be held to the same standards for granting of privileges, regardless of specialty, in order to ensure the provision of high-quality patient care. It is important to note that the policies of both ACOG and AAFP, as well as the American Medical Association, are virtually identical in support of privileging any physician, regardless of specialty, who is able to document training, experience and demonstrated current competence. For this reason, both organizations felt strongly that the joint statement on privileges be permanently attached to the educational guidelines.
Most family physicians are satisfied with their hospital privileges.
Among those privileges most contested, unfortunately, are surgical and advanced obstetric privileges. Other reasons that physicians do not perform cesarean sections include issues of liability, the absence of a hospital practice or not desiring the privilege. The 1980 core educational guidelines on obstetrics and gynecology have anecdotally resulted in family practice residency programs that have obtained training in obstetrics and graduates who have obtained obstetric privileges. Indeed, again anecdotally, no other set of core educational guidelines published by the AAFP has had the impact on training and privileges than has the original AAFP Reprint No. 261. We hope that the 1998 version will be as useful to the discipline, its trainees and graduates as was the original document.