The role of family medicine in improvising efficiency, equity and quality of primary healthcare services. Is it significant?

Primary care is a critical component of any healthcare system and a multiplicity of studies has demonstrated that primary care improves individual and population health outcomes. The provision of m ore effective and equitable healthcare to populations can be provided through an established primary care system, which is delivered and strengthened by the role of the family medicine specialist. The objective of our study is to describe the rationale for considering family medicine as an essential component of primary healthcare, to provide evidence of its efficiency, equitability and quality, with a practical consideration of its implementation by providing examples from various countries. We conclude that family medicine as an important component in any primary healthcare system and that it is vital to increasing the person-centeredness of individual and population care.