Medical education reform to preserve primary care in the USA

Primary care is widely considered the entry point and foundation of health-care systems. The National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine defines high-quality primary care as the provision of whole-person health care provided by interprofessional teams to address patient needs across settings and through sustained relationships.1 Inadequate primary care leads to undiagnosed conditions, uncoordinated disease management, gaps in preventive care, and increased reliance on acute care. Decades of research have shown that high-quality primary care is associated with lower health-care costs and improved population-level longevity.