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Opinion: We love primary care. Why are our trainees so discouraged by it?

Revitalizing primary care requires training young physicians who see themselves as change agents, and who are committed to the kind of vibrant health care that is at the core of…
Source: Carl Court/Getty Images

We have been primary care physicians for a combined total of 98 years. Every day we are reminded why we do it and why we love this type of medicine.

Here are three examples from a single day in one of our practices that show how a trusting relationship built over time has been vital to providing good care. One patient was a young woman whose recurring sinus infections and refractory asthma were treated with single-contact visits with specialists for years. None of them identified the underlying immunological disease that was causing her problems. But by observing her clinical course over

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