The future of family practice training in California

Although the number of physicians in California has doubled since 1963, the number of family and general practice physicians has declined. The ratio of office-based primary care physicians to population has also decreased. Graduate medical education is funded largely from patient care revenues, but the low rate of reimbursement for ambulatory care makes training in primary care specialties especially dependent on public support. Medicare, the Veterans Administration, and the University of California provide more than $325 million a year in support of graduate medical education in California. Federal and state grant programs provide $5 million a year for family physician training in the state, but appropriations to these programs have been reduced in real terms. California family practice residencies are disproportionately located at county hospitals, where funding shortfalls make them especially vulnerable to cuts in grant programs. Additional resources will be needed if more family physicians are to be trained.