Building the Workforce

Primary care is at the heart of the patient centered medical home.  Yet in our nation, primary care is fast losing ground as the preferred field of practice.  Payment mechanisms that devalue time spent with patients, and the attraction of better-paying specialty or subspecialty practice in our nation combine to reduce the ranks of primary care providers.  Primary care physicians earn half or a third of the income of many of their specialist counterparts; between 1995 and 2003 they experienced an income drop of more than 10 percent. As a result, medical school graduates abandon primary care at an alarming rate. 

The PCPCC is working to reverse this trend as a convener and educator, through legislative initiatives and by advancement of the PCMH concept in the marketplace. 

The attached resources expand on the issue of workforce development. These are free to be downloaded to learn more about this topic.  Please use appropriate acknowledgment and citation when sharing this content.

“Workforce Training: Activating and Equipping the Team” was a panel discussion presented at the Oct. 22, 2009 PCPCC National Summit.  The panel included the following PowerPoint presentations, available below for your information.

• Fitzhugh Mullan, MD, Murdock Head Professor of Medicine and Health Policy, The George Washington University, Department of Health Policy
• Jeffrey Borkan, MD, PhD, Professor and Chair, Department of Family Medicine, Warren Alpert Medical School, Brown University
• Lloyd Michener, MD, Professor & Chair, Dept of Community & Family Medicine; Director, Duke Center for Community Research, Duke University Medical Center