ACOFP President Says There Are Financial Statistics To Support Family Physician Career

Becoming a primary care provider can be a daunting financial decision for many Central Valley natives who have a passion to serve their community. Understanding this barrier, David Park, DO, FACOFP, FAAFP, visited osteopathic medical students at California Health Sciences University (CHSU) to enlighten them on the financial opportunities for a family medicine physician. He emphasized that primary care providers can succeed in serving their communities while still paying back their student loans.

Dr. Park has an extensive background in various leadership roles at the national level, including his current role as the President of the American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians, which is well-known for being the largest specialty organization in the osteopathic profession. He is also a member of the Bureau of Osteopathic Education for the American Osteopathic Association (AOA), which oversees all aspects of osteopathic medical education in the United States. As a graduate of the AOA Health Policy Fellowship program, Dr. Park continues to advocate for medical education and primary care. In addition, Dr. Park is a diplomate of the American Board of Family Medicine and of the American Osteopathic Board of Family Physicians.

On January 29, Dr. Park addressed these financial concerns during a presentation to 60 medical students at the CHSU College of Osteopathic Medicine (CHSU-COM), coordinated by the CHSU-COM student chapters for Student Association of American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians (SAACOFP) and Student Osteopathic Medical Association (SOMA).

Some of the Family Medicine Opportunities shared by Dr. Park include:

• Outpatient clinic
  • Hospital system
  • Private group
  • Solo practice
• Outpatient and Inpatient
• Hospitalist
• Academics
  • Medical school faculty
  • Residency faculty

Raised in Clovis, Krishan Joshi, second-year medical student, joined SAACOFP as the President to advocate towards increasing the number of family medicine physicians. He played a significant role in inviting and scheduling Dr. Park to speak at CHSU-COM to inspire his peers.

“There is such a need for primary care physicians across the country, but no place feels its effects more than the Central Valley,” expressed Joshi. “As Dr. Park said, we all went into medicine to help others, but many future doctors also have to factor income into our final decisions. He showed us the scope of what a family physician can do with different scenarios, including statistics on the yearly income for family physicians helped to dispel the myth that primary care providers can’t pay back their loans.”

Some key statistics that Dr. Park shared include:

• In 2016, the average salary for family medicine physicians surpassed $250,000 and has continued to trend upwards.
• In California, the average wage for a family medicine physician is $240 per hour.
• The Medical Group Management Association showed there was a 4.4% increase in total compensation from $286,525 in 2021 to $299,157 in 2022.

CHSU congratulates the SAACOFP and SOMA on hosting this successful event that empowers their peers to pursue their goal of becoming a physician. CHSU thanks Dr. Park and his team for supporting Central Valley medical students and the mission to increase access to healthcare in underserved communities.

To learn more about Dr. Park’s discussion, please reach out to the CHSU Student Association of American College of Osteopathic Family Physicians.