In a 1973 monograph on the education of physicians for primary care, Joel Alpert and I wrote, "There are two interrelated and serious problems in our present educational structure—not enough physicians enter primary care and those who do so are not adequately prepared for the job."1 Twenty years and many task forces and exhortatory editorials later, much the same could be said. But that conclusion would not be entirely fair: changes have indeed occurred in the subsequent two score years.
There is now clear consensus that a strong primary care system should be the linchpin of our nation's health care system, with 50 to 60% of physicians as generalists, 2,3 and the medical profession has at least professed to agree with that strategy.4
Rebuilding the health care system in Afghanistan: an overview of primary care and emergency services
