Family and community medicine workforce training and practice in the Americas

Background

Family and Community Medicine (FCM) constitute a strategic cornerstone health systems strengthening, operationalizing a comprehensive, continuous, and person-centered care model that integrates individuals, families, and communities as fundamental units of care. This specialty directly contributes to enhanced effectiveness, care coordination, and quality improvement at the first level of care, thereby optimizing health system performance. 

FCM represents a critical enabler for building resilient health systems capable of integrating lessons learned while simultaneously enhancing preparedness capacities for future health emergencies. The specialty demonstrates relevance in addressing health equity gaps by expanding care access to historically underserved populations—including rural, underserved, and in situations of vulnerability—where geographical, economic, and social barriers persistently limit healthcare access. Despite this strategic importance, substantial regional heterogeneity persists across the Americas in terms of specialty development, health system integration, professional recognition, regulatory frameworks, and workforce distribution, resulting in suboptimal FCM capacity to fulfill its transformative potential. 

To address challenges related to human resources for health, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) Policy on the Health Workforce 2030: Strengthening Human Resources for Health to Achieve Resilient Health Systems provides Member States with strategic lines to strengthen governance, develop and consolidate regulatory mechanisms, strengthen the development of interprofessional teams, enhance capacity building, and promote decent working conditions, with physical and mental protection for health workers. Collectively, these efforts seek to enhance the contributions of the health workforce to expanding access to services, aligning with Primary Health Care (PHC) based health system models oriented toward achieving universal health coverage and the health-related Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

Within this strategic framework PAHO, in partnership with the World Organization of Family Doctors (WONCA) - Ibero and North America Regions, and the PAHO/WHO Collaborating Center for Innovative Health Workers Education, Service and Research Models at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center conducted a comprehensive regional study—Family and community medicine workforce training and practice in the Americas—examining ecosystems on training and practice environments of Family and Community Medicine across the Americas. The study findings provide novel evidence-based insights essential for informing policy development, guiding curricular reform, strengthening accreditation systems, and optimizing professional practice environments. This webinar aims to present and discuss these findings, fostering a regional dialogue that contributes to strengthening FCM as an essential pillar of PHC and the health workforce.