Family practice is the medical specialty that provides continuing and comprehensive health care for individuals and families. Family medicine's cornerstone is an ongoing, personal patient-physician relationship focused on integrated care. Unlike other specialties that are limited in scope, family medicine integrates the biological, clinical and behavioral sciences in order to treat all ages, sexes, each organ system and every disease entity. It is a three-dimensional specialty that incorporates the elements of knowledge, skill and process. While knowledge and skill may be shared with other specialties, the family practice process is unique. It emphasizes preventative care and long-term relationships between patients and physicians, and it is the extent to which this relationship is valued, developed, nurtured and maintained, that distinguishes family practice from all other specialties.

The specialty of family medicine was created in 1969 to fulfill the generalist function in medicine, which suffered from the growth of subspecialization after World War II. Today, there are nearly 70,000 practicing family physicians in the United States, and nearly one in four of all office visits are made to general and family physicians annually. In 2001, office visits to general and family physicians numbered more than 210 million--76 million more than to any other specialty. Since its creation nearly four decades ago, the specialty of family medicine has delivered on its promise to reverse the decline of general medicine and to provide personal, front-line medical care to people of all socioeconomic strata and in all regions of the United States. In fact, family physicians provide the majority of care for America's underserved rural and urban populations. 

Family physicians complete a three-year residency program after graduating from medical school. As part of their residency, they participate in integrated inpatient and outpatient learning and receive training in six major medical areas: pediatrics, obstetrics and gynecology, internal medicine, psychiatry and neurology, surgery and community medicine. They also receive instruction in many other areas including geriatrics, emergency medicine, ophthalmology, radiology, orthopedics, otolaryngology and urology. Because of their extensive training, family physicians are the only specialists qualified to treat most ailments and provide comprehensive health care for people of all ages--from newborns to seniors. Providing patients with a personal medical home, family physicians deliver a wide spectrum of acute, chronic and preventive medical care services ranging from diagnosing/treating illnesses and providing preventative care such as routine check ups, health-risk assessments, immunization and screening tests, to personalized counseling on maintaining a healthy lifestyle, managing chronic illness and coordinating care provided by other subspecialists. Family physicians are equipped to provide primary care for the nation's most serious health problems, be it heart disease, stroke, hypertension, diabetes, cancer or asthma.

The Florida Academy of Family Physicians believes that family medicine is the most effective and efficient method of treatment. Family physicians diagnose and treat 90 percent of all patient problems, including biological and mental health concerns. Through long-term physician-patient relationships, family physicians come to know the entire and detailed medical history of their patients, thereby being better able to recommend necessary treatments. Treatment by family physicians results in quality of care equal to specialty care, high patient satisfaction, and a more cost-effective use of hospitals, testing, procedures, and expensive technology.