Potentially Alarming Trends in the Scope of Practice for Family Physicians

In this issue, Peterson et al1 report on the substantial gaps between preparation for, and practice of, nearly all clinical-practice areas among family physicians. They conclude that early-career family physicians may not find opportunities to provide the broad and comprehensive care consistent with their training. This report is a followup to the Coutinho2 study of family physicians registering for the American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Certification Examination that found graduating family-medicine residents reported an intention to provide a broader scope of practice than that reported by current practitioners.