Keck School of Medicine at USC proposes fix to primary care provider pipeline

Primary care physicians may not be the flashiest health care professionals, but they deliver a core, foundational element of patient care. Because they provide preventive care and offer crucial referrals to medical specialists and other services, they are integral to health care systems. They’re also in short supply worldwide, a problem that is expected to worsen in the future. 

To address this growing issue, the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California uses an immersive model called the Primary Care Initiative to inspire medical students to pursue careers in primary care. Launched in 2011, the PCI also includes the Primary Care Program, which focuses on community-based primary care for underserved urban populations. A recent alumni questionnaire showed that of the 61 respondents who were matched into primary care residencies and were practicing or had almost completed residency training, 70% were still practicing primary care or on track to do so. 

“There’s a paucity of role models in medical schools who are primary care physicians,” said study senior author Jo Marie Reilly, M.D., founding director of PCI and a professor of family medicine at the Keck School of Medicine. “We provide a forum for students to see the breadth and scope of primary care services and envision what their own careers could be.”

The study in which the questionnaire results were highlighted, published in Family Medicine, also showed that 90% of practicing physicians who responded served urban communities, in keeping with the Primary Care Program’s focus. 

LEARN MORE