The Personal Doctoring Manifesto: A Perspective from the Keystone IV Conference

Area of Science:

• Health Policy
• Medical Education
• Primary Care

Background:

• The Keystone IV Conference convened multigenerational discussions on the healthcare system.
• There is a recognized need to reaffirm the value of personal doctoring as a vocation.
• Current healthcare environments necessitate rekindling the counterculture spirit within family medicine.

Purpose of the Study:

• To inspire renewed commitment to relationships, healthy communities, and social change.
• To address the challenges in today's healthcare environment and reclaim the role of personal doctors.
• To reimagine and reignite the importance of personal relationships in primary care.

Main Methods:

• Multigenerational conversations and reflections on the healthcare system.
• Identifying key areas where relationships are crucial in healthcare.
• Exploring strategies to leverage technological and team-based advancements.

Main Results:

• Participants renewed commitments to relationships, community health, and social change.
• A call for immediate action to define and strengthen personal doctoring.
• Emphasis on harnessing information technology, team-based care, and population health.

Conclusions:

• Reimagining personal relationships is a counterculture movement for primary care.
• Personal doctors must adapt to new paradigms while preserving the core of patient-doctor relationships.
• A new model of personal doctoring requires patient and family partnerships for community-focused, whole-person care.