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Goh LG, Ong CP
Correspondence: A/Prof Goh Lee Gan, lee_gan_goh@nuhs.edu.sg
ABSTRACT
This review provides an update of education and training in family medicine in Singapore and worldwide. Family medicine has progressed much since 1969 when it was recognised as the 20th medical discipline in the United States. Three salient changes in the local healthcare landscape have been noted over time, which are of defining relevance to family medicine in Singapore, namely the rise of noncommunicable chronic diseases, the care needs of an expanding elderly population, and the care of a larger projected population in 2030. The change in the vision of family medicine into the future refers to a new paradigm of one discipline in many settings, and not limited to the community. Family medicine needs to provide a patient-centred medical home, and the discipline’s education and training need to be realigned. The near-term training objectives are to address the service, training and research needs of a changing and challenging healthcare landscape.
Keywords: chronic disease, many settings, paradign, paradign shift, patient-centred medical home
Singapore Med J 2014; 55(3): 117-123; http://dx.doi.org/10.11622/smedj.2014031
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