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John D. Goodson, MD

JAMA. 2007;298(19):2308-2310.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Medicine's generalist base is disappearing as a consequence of the reimbursement system crafted to save it—the resource-based relative value scale.¹ The US physician workforce is unique among developed economies of the world. Virtually all European countries have a broad generalist foundation comprising 70% to 80% of practicing physicians. The United States is the opposite. Starfield² has summarized the benefits of a generalist workforce as access to health service for relatively deprived populations; care equal to specialists in most situations (recognizing the invaluable contribution of the specialist physicians but acknowledging that the diffusion of knowledge increases the ability of the nonspecialist to provide up-to-date care); improved preventive service delivery; efficient management of multiple simultaneous medical, surgical, and mental health problems in active and fully functional patients; provision of continuity in the health care experience, advice, and counsel where appropriate and access to appropriate diagnostic, consultative, and specialty . . . [Full Text of this Article]

Author Affiliation: Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston.