Podcasts

What Does It Meant To Be A (Family) Physician

Presented by Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, University of Nevada
STFM Annual Spring Conference 2025 General Session | Monday, May 5, 2025

The enduring values of family medicine center on the compassionate, comprehensive care of patients over time. That care has defined family medicine and motivated family physicians for decades. Today, simply providing excellent care for patients may not be enough in the face of an extraordinarily perverse and dysfunctional health care system that often does everything in its power to make caring for patients difficult, stressful and discouraging. The regenerative power of the physician-patient relationship is often compromised and thwarted by a health care system that ranks as the worst in the world among developed countries. The health care system rides on the backs of family and other primary care physicians, and those backs are bending painfully under the system’s weight.

The solution lies in using the power of the physician-patient relationship as the source of motivation and energy to fight for the very soul of our profession, fight for the core of what it means to be a family physician, fight for operational changes that are designed for quality instead of efficiency, fight for informational and technological solutions that promote continuity, and fight for model operations that show our learners how attractive family medicine can be. This fight requires leadership at all levels of the discipline of family medicine. 

Through stories and personal anecdotes from his career, the presenter illustrates the regenerative power of the physician-patient relationship and the power of the family physician’s role as an agent for change.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the session each participant should:

• Be exposed to the core importance and regenerative power of the physician-patient relationship
• Have the opportunity to reflect on their own commitment to the core attributes of the physician-patient relationship as the motivation to fight for operational changes in the health care system
• Have the opportunity to consider their role as a leader in preserving and supporting the physician-patient relationship

Copyright © Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 2025

Thomas L. Schwenk, MD

Thomas L. Schwenk, MD, holds an appointment as dean emeritus at the University of Nevada, Reno, having served as dean of the School of Medicine and vice-president of Health Sciences from 2011–2021.

Dr Schwenk earned his degree in chemical engineering and medical degree from the University of Michigan. He trained at the University of Utah and practiced in Park City, Utah, before returning to the University of Michigan where he served as chair of the Department of Family Medicine from 1986–2011. 

He has served on the Board of Directors of the American Board of Family Medicine and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2002. He also served for four years on the Administrative Board of the Council of Deans of the Association of American Medical Colleges. Dr Schwenk’s research has focused most recently on mental health and wellness in medical students, residents and physicians. He has co-authored over 160 publications, and has consulted to over 50 medical schools and teaching hospitals in various capacities.