Family physicians in emergency medicine: new opportunities and critical challenges.

The future of emergency care in the United States and the role that family physicians will play in that future is of concern to the AAFP. That concern led to the development of a policy on family physicians in emergency medicine, an AAFP position paper, and the formation of the Special Interest Group-Emergency Medicine (SIG-EM), which launched at the 2010 Scientifi c Assembly. According to the AAFP position paper, “Critical Challenges for Family Medicine: Delivering Emergency Medical Care—Equipping Family Physicians for the 21st Century,”1 staffi ng in the emergency department (ED) has been controversial since emergency medicine (EM) matured as a specialty. Many EM specialists would like to limit staffi ng in the ED exclusively to EM residency trained physicians. However, the evidence is clear that EM residency training programs will not meet workforce needs for decades, and family physicians will be needed in the workforce. The AAFP policy and position paper provide a foundation for changes that need to occur to ensure family physicians are part of the future of emergency medicine. According to the AAFP policy,