Vocational training for family practice in Israel

Awareness that the competent family physician in the community is the key person in providing economic and effective health services is increasing. In Israel, as in most Western countries, this need is being met by postgraduate vocational training in family medicine. In Israel, the 4-yr curriculum, after completion of the compulsory internship year, consists of 27 mo in rotating residencies in approved hospital wards, followed by 21 mo in approved teaching practices, under the supervision of family physician tutors. A formal course of academic studies or work in one of the basic medical sciences is required, as are the Board of Family Medicine mandatory examinations. Now it is necessary to reach a consensus on the future scope and content of family medicine as an independent discipline that can provide comprehensive, continuous, accessible, and coordinated health care to all family members in the practice population, both in their homes and in clinics. There is also a need to recognize that academic and clinical teaching and research are as much a part of the family physician's task as is his service commitment, and that adequate facilities must be provided.