I have to honestly say that the future of Family Medicine, and all primary care, is very much at risk.  While we all work on providing evidence-based, best practice medicine, it becomes harder on a daily basis.  We are being buried in paperwork such as pre-authorizations, pre-certifications, and repeated prescribing of the same medications when insurance plans change.  Many of us are trying to build Patient Centered Medical Homes, but while we work on the foundations our roofs are caving in from the bureaucratic weight.

Family doctors have been shown to provide the highest quality, most cost-effective medical care.  We are, at the same time, the most overworked and undervalued specialty in medicine at this time.  Our healthcare system cannot survive without primary care doctors but we are becoming an endangered species.  Let's all hope that this is fixed before it is too late.