Health is primary: Family medicine for America's health.

Purpose: More than a decade ago the American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Family Physicians Foundation, American Board of Family Medicine, Association of Departments of Family Medicine, Association of Family Practice Residency Directors, North American Primary Care Research Group, and Society of Teachers of Family Medicine came together in the Future of Family Medicine (FFM) to launch a series of strategic efforts to "renew the specialty to meet the needs of people and society," some of which bore important fruit. Family Medicine for America's Health was launched in 2013 to revisit the role of family medicine in view of these changes and to position family medicine with new strategic and communication plans to create better health, better health care, and lower cost for patients and communities (the Triple Aim).

Methods: Family Medicine for America's Health was preceded and guided by the development of a family physician role definition.

The Patient-centered Medical Home: a new perspective for the family medicine clerkship.

The Patient-centered Medical Home (PCMH) concept, essential functions of primary care, and an appropriate primary care workforce have been shown to improve health outcomes and reduce health care costs. This paper describes a curriculum that uses the PCMH and related health policy concepts as the foundation for didactic, clinical, and self-directed elements. The PCMH-focused curriculum improved overall student clerkship ratings and maintained student performance on the National Board of Medical Education subject exam.

Evaluation of syncope.

Though relatively common, syncope is a complex presenting symptom defined by a transient loss of consciousness, usually accompanied by falling, and with spontaneous recovery. Syncope must be carefully differentiated from other conditions that may cause a loss of consciousness or falling. Syncope can be classified into four categories: reflex mediated, cardiac, orthostatic, and cerebrovascular.

Research support infrastructure and productivity in U.S. family practice residency programs.

Purpose: To examine the associations between 11 research support infrastructural characteristics and measures of research productivity.

Method: A questionnaire was mailed to 462 directors of non-military family practice residency programs in the United States. A total of 11 research support infrastructural characteristics and six research productivity measures were coded.