To the editor:
Last evening after several days of exhausting suspense and subsequent match day activities (otherwise known as Black Tuesday) and after a 1-hour power nap, I picked up my March 2001 issue of JFP and foraged for useful information that I can implement in practice. I was overwhelmed and inspired by the abundance of good research relevant to practice presented in a way that makes it useful and easy to implement in my day-to-day work. This issue, especially, demonstrated reflective practice in action, from the provocative editorial on rigor or relevance to the always-useful POEMs to the Art of Medicine narratives at the end of the journal. I say to you and your editorial board: very nicely done.
Family practice is not in a death spiral; it is alive and well. It has just been a stormy week, and I am encouraged to look for the silver lining. I intend to critically examine what I am doing with regard to medical student professional development and recruitment, with the intent of working smarter not harder (impossible) in addressing the very real challenges we as family physicians face.
We need to address the issues of limited customers (ie, family practice–interested medical students), limited resources (funds and faculty), hostile institutional cultures, and broader cultural expectations and perceptions—all in the face of overwhelming demand and continuing maldistribution of family physicians in many communities. I agree with Roxanne Fahrenwald that this is a perfect opportunity to get together and rationally and collaboratively plan rather than continue an “each program for itself” mentality and simply ride the vicissitudes of a market economy in health care. There will be more Black Tuesdays if we do.
Randall Longenecker, MD
Mad River Family Practice
West Liberty, Ohio
JFP editor Dr Ebell responds:
It is gratifying to read your kind words, and on behalf of the editorial board, our journal staff, and our hard-working authors, I thank you. It is my goal to make JFP the most useful journal for family physicians—particularly those who want to take an evidence-based approach to care—as well as the best place to publish original research. We welcome input from readers about our new features and encourage you to take a look at our new Web site at www.jfponline.com.
Mark H. Ebell, MD, MS
Athens, Georgia