RESEARCH ON CAREER- PRIMARY CARE PHYSICIAN

BY: Jason Siebert

Introduction to Primary Care

Primary care is the initial diagnosis and/or treatment of a health-related problem found in a patient1

Therefore, a primary care physician acts as the first health professional to examine a patient and recommends and refers the patient to the appropriate secondary care provider (i.e surgeon, nephrologist) if necessary

History of Primary Care in US

Most doctors and other health care providers in the early American times treated all members of families as best as they could, normally by going out on house calls and checking on health status as well as providing any acute care when needed2 (ex. Bleeding due to dog bite) However, not every doctor was equal, as “witch doctors”

and others claimed magical powers led to their healing Therefore, the American Medical Association (AMA)

and the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM, later AAFM) were created to standardize the education of practitioners and guarantee a certain standard of care for patients

Pay Level for PCPs Average pay for a Primary Care Physician

is around $186,000 and ranges from about $140,000 to around $250,0003

While this is somewhat lower than the amount of money one could make going into a specialty area of medicine (ex. Osteopathic surgeons make around $519,000), the average income for a Primary Care Physician is in the top 2% of income for US citizens3

Availability of PCP Positions in USA

The demand for primary care providers been increasing for years, and with the Affordable Care Act increasing the number of people who are able to visit a PCP, there is a large demand for PCPs.

Family medicine and other forms of primary care is one of the most understaffed specialties in the US, with the AAMC seeing the physician shortage in America largely due to a shortage in PCPs4

Day in the Life of a PCP Most PCP physicians work either 7-5 or 8-5 days, and

have a somewhat more structured workday compared to other specialties, as surgical professions such as an OB/GYN need to be on call for longer hours in the event of an unplanned surgery, for example

Patients seen per day range from 11-40, with an average of 93.2 patients seen per week (approx. 19 per day) spending around 22 minutes per patient encounter

Recent healthcare reform (ACA) will most likely lead to more patients seen by PCPs (and therefore less time per patient encounter) due to more people visiting their doctors and a finite amount of primary care providers in the US5

What Type of Primary Care Would I Want to Do?

Primary care has always interested me, from my days visiting my pediatrician as a kid to shadowing family practice physicians

Throughout my experiences, I believe that I would be best suited to be a physician of family medicine, due to my O*NET scoring as well as my personal experiences

Therefore, I plan on going to medical school and then residency for 3 years in order to reach this goal

Why Would I Be A Good Primary Care Physician?

I believe that I would be a good PCP due to my previous experiences looking into the profession, and my O*Net scores correlate this

My 3 highest scores were in Social, Investigative, and Realistic, respectively

Primary care physicians need to work well socially, as they develop strong relationships with their patients over years of time, so scoring highest in the Social category can mean that I would succeed in being a family medicine physician

O*NET Scores Cont. My second highest score was in Investigative, which

would work well with me being a family doctor as a majority of primary care involves investigating and determining the cause of an illness or disease and either treating it on the spot or sending a patient to a secondary care provider

Finally, my third highest score of Realistic would be helpful as well, because determining the most logical treatment plan for a patient as a family doctor is crucial. For example, if I was able to determine a significantly cheaper treatment option for a patient as compared to, say, surgery, I would be able to save my patient lots of time and money in curing their disease

Examples of My O*Net Skills

I have always been a person who enjoys working with others, and holding positions in both my fraternity as well as CU Water Drop, a Clemson program that works to prevent overconsumption of alcohol, are both examples of my skill in social settings

I have also worked with children at a YMCA summer camp for years, and my social skills were present in dealing with children and their parents

Other Examples of O*Net Skills My investigative skills have been shown in

using research data that I have collected with Water Drop to determine where and how students at Clemson binge drink as well as coming up with ways to combat this

Finally, my realistic skills have been honed mainly through my various experiences shadowing physicians. Learning how physicians actually practice has been vital in me becoming someone who looks at real-world and practical applications for situations

Academic Standards and Requirements for Being a PCP

Being a Health Science major at Clemson with a competitive GPA (and hopefully a competitive MCAT score by the end of the semester) will make me a strong candidate to entering med school

Then, I will plan on completing my 4 years at medical school and then going to residency at a family practice for 3 years in order to become a certified family medicine practitioner

Attending APEX at Columbia last summer as well as taking care of my grandmother last summer as she recovers from congestive heart failure are both experiences that have made me feel like I would be a strong family care physcian

Conclusion Working as a primary care physician, and

specifically a family medicine physician, is a job that I believe that I would enjoy and excel in, and my O*Net scores are consistent with me being a strong family medicine physician

While I will have to expect at least another 7 years of schooling to reach this position, I believe that I am willing to embark on this professional journey to becoming a family medicine physcian, and the fact that my O*Net scores corroborate this has strengthen my resolve towards the long road that I have ahead in working to being in this profession

Works Cited1. http://

www.aafp.org/about/policies/all/primary-care.html

2. http://www.aafpfoundation.org/online/etc/medialib/found/documents/programs/chfm/foundationgutierrezpaper.Par.0001.File.tmp/foundation-gutierrezpaper.pdf

3. http://www.healthcare-salaries.com/physicians/primary-care-physician-salary

4. http://www.audiotech.com/trends-magazine/addressing-u-s-physician-shortage/

5. http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/medical-school-admissions-doctor/2011/11/07/follow-a-day-in-the-life-of-a-primary-care-physician